Only in Ohio: Explaining the TikTok & Twitter Memes (2024)

Co-authored byLuke Smith, MFA

Last Updated: June 24, 2024Fact Checked

“Only in Ohio” Meme Explained

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1. “Only in Ohio” is a joke on social media that pokes fun at Ohio. The meme is often used to caption over-the-top, absurd, or unfortunate images or videos (commonly featuring apocalyptic situations) to imply that these situations could only happen in a place as bizarre or strange as Ohio. Not that Ohio is especially strange in reality, but it’s fun to single out the state for a laugh—likely because nothing much happens there in the first place.

   • Example: On November 21, 2022, TikTok user @ryzwtf posted a video featuring a carnival ride comically slingshotting its riders into the air with the caption, “Only in Ohio💀”

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1. “Ohio vs. the World” is a meme that imagines Ohio taking over the planet. This version of the Ohio memes sets up Ohio as some sort of malevolent force trying for world domination, usually with fake news headlines saying things like “Ohio took over America,” or, “Ohio is invading Canada,” as well as other goofy scenarios.

   • Example: One popular Ohio vs. the World meme features an MS-paint drawing of 2 astronauts looking at an Earth that only features one big Ohio. “Wait, it’s all Ohio?” one astronaut says. The other, pointing a gun at the first, says, “Always has been.”^[1]

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1. “Can’t even X in Ohio” is used to caption inconvenient situations. This is a twist on the older “Can’t have sh*t in Detroit” meme. It’s a tongue-in-cheek way to complain about common frustrations, or even absurd, surreal, or fictional conundrums, usually accompanied by the song “Swag Like Ohio” by rapper Lil B. The meme is meant to imply that Ohio has supernaturally bad vibes, or that it’s a place where bad things just tend to happen—though of course the joke has little real-life basis.

   • Example: TikToker @fwkairu posted a video on August 18, 2022, featuring an enormous animated spider crawling across the moon, captioned, “can’t even look at the moon in ohio💀”

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   The Ohio memes started with an image posted to Tumblr in 2016. On August 6 that year, popular Tumblr account screenshotsofdespair posted an image of a digital bus stop sign that, for some reason, read, “Ohio will be eliminated.”^[2] The post quickly took off, with over 100,000 notes, and people started riffing with their own jokes about the exaggerated dangers and shortcomings of Ohio.

   • Some time later, a Reddit user by the name of chutotkaa posted a map of the United States labeled “DANGER PRESENTED BY OHIO” featuring color-coded “Ohio advisories” in surrounding states.
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   The memes found their way to TikTok in August 2022. The meme popped up on TikTok when user @redie999 uploaded a video featuring a CG creature prowling by his window with the caption “I’m just trying to sleep in Ohio💀,” with “Swag Like Ohio” by Lil B playing over it. After, users began uploading similar videos with the sound, and the rest is history.^[3]

   • Since then, people like to make up apocalyptic, horrific, or absurd situations and claim they happen “only in Ohio.”
   • In 2023, YouTuber CG5 uploaded a song inspired by the meme, which people like to poke fun at, because Ohio memes in general are fun to poke fun at.^[4]

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1. Ohio’s just a random, mundane target, which makes the memes funnier. There’s a lot of answers to this question, but maybe the best answer is just that Ohio is a little boring. It’s a midwestern state where nothing much happens, and so pretending that it’s the epicenter of the apocalypse, a rogue state bent on world domination, or just someplace with terrible vibes is that much funnier.

   • Some say it’s also because Ohio is emblematic of American capitalist, suburban culture, so the memes are actually a sort of parody or social commentary, romanticizing or dramatizing the “midwest wasteland.”

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1. Use “Only in Ohio” to caption surreal or unfortunate images and videos. One of the best parts about the memes is how versatile they are! If you see something even mildly strange, be it a video of a dog walking menacingly on its hind legs, or a clip from the latest Godzilla movie, caption or comment something like, “Only in Ohio” or, “Can’t even take a walk outside in Ohio” to get in a good-humored jab at everyone’s favorite midwestern punching bag.

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   Can’t have sh*t in Detroit This is the origin of the “Can’t have X in Ohio” memes, and it used to caption unfortunate circ*mstances—a joke about Detroit’s notoriously low standard of living. It started when a Facebook user posted an image of a house missing its front steps, captioned “Someone stole my f--king porch . I opened my door an fell 🤦‍♂️ u can't have sh*t in Detroit"”^[5]

   • Fun fact: The original post was actually made about Cincinnati, Ohio, but was edited to say Detroit. It all comes full circle.
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   Ohio Final Boss This refers to Japanese TikTok user Saoyu0704, or just “Satoyu.” Satoyu is known for parodying anime protagonists, but became associated with the Ohio memes because he always says “Ohayo” during his streams (which is just Japanese for “Good Morning”). Now, people joke that he’s the “Final Boss of Ohio,” given his tendency to imitate popular, intimidating anime characters.

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