Ohio

1. ‘a word in youth language for a place, an event, a situation or an experience that could be described as unreasonable, unlikely, confusing or terrifying’
2. Could also be used to describe a person as – „a loser, a weirdo, a failure”

In general English, Ohio is an American state situated in the western part of the USA in internet culture, however, it stands for an ironic or a playful comment to the content displayed, based mostly on the comedy of the situation.  In Polish, similar tendencies can be observed with names of places such as: Kongo (Congo), Meksyk (Mexico) or Stegna.

It is difficult to discover the origins of the slang term Ohio.  Information from different sources claims different things. According to one theory, „Ohio”’s world-scale popularity is purely accidental, because every American state has its own jokes about its region. https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/17st06w/comment/k8s5e1p/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button On the other hand, if we try to look at Google Analytics, we can see that the interest for the phrase „ohio meme” only started to appear in September 2022. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2013-01-01%202024-08-12&q=ohio%20meme.

To compare, according to the data from the website „Know your meme” in 2016 there was a „meme series” described as „Ohio vs The World”, where Ohio, being a state in the USA, wanted to „take over” the world, or in an another version – there was a certain unknown danger that had the goal to destroy Ohio, or that – the world was supposed to belong to Ohio all along. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cultures/ohio

There’s also a theory that the name Ohio, as a part of meme culture, was popularised by the song „Swag like Ohio from 2011, created by the artist Lil B (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfqDIcrhqxM), which was parodied many times. For examplehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHokKcwWnx0 is a viral backing track for many humorous adaptations.

Perhaps the beginning of Ohio’s „bad” reputation (it being associated with it being a place where ridiculous things happen and where quite a lot of uncommon individuals live), is a photo from 2016 with the title:    „Ohio will be eliminated”, displayed on a bus stop. For comparison, the stereotype of a place as a „state of mind” can be observed in Poland too, with names of places such as: Sosnowiec, Wąchock, Bydgoszcz, or Podlasie („Ohio is like the American Podlasie; Ohio is the american Sosnowiec; certain people think that Bydgoszcz is like Ohio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1CmdcRY2bE)

Since 2022, „only in Ohio” has been a viral phrase, commonly associated with CG5’s song titled exactly like that. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tPnWr-V-2M),Used as the punchline or an ironic comment to the situation presented.

Examples:

1. You don’t say „Ohio” but „Ohajo” (I’ve checked)/https://www.tiktok.com/@ptaszek.hot/video/7203268834055277829
2. Ohio is a state of mind /https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdkGupif0rE.
3. Only in Ohio. [A comment under a video:] In America, somewhere in Ohio,/ everyone keeps drinking and taking drugs./The games are over,/ the lawnmowers are running the hell away/https://joemonster.org/filmy/116787.
4. I bet that, before you realize, / the whole world will be conquered, / by Ohio! / Only in Ohio, Ohio/ https://www.poeto.pl/wiersz/280398/Tylko_w_Ohio.
5. Ohio is Polish. It’s been quite a popular meme lately/https://www.tiktok.com/@rost_minecraft/video/7162595488963792134..

See also: Ohio is a meme, that took TikTok by storm https://vibez.pl/wydarzenia/ohio-to-mem-ktory-podbil-tiktoka-o-co-w-nim-chodzi-6852687769988032a.