January 7: Come At Me, Salt Bae

Well, here we are, a week into the new year. While there may not feel like there’s much difference between 2021 and 2022 so far, January has historically been a very fruitful month for memes, and today we have quite a few classics to celebrate. For starters, January 7 is the anniversary of “Salt Bae,” the flamboyant chef who captured the imaginations of memers with his theatrical way of seasoning steak. It’s also the anniversary of one of the internet’s most classic challenges, “Come At Me Bro.” And finally, on the most NSFW side, is the unforgettable introduction to a classic pornographic film, known colloquially as “Lemon Stealing Whores.” Let’s get to it!

The Flamboyance Of Salt Bae

In 2017, the world was introduced to Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, a restaurateur who delights his customers by appearing at their table to cut and season their tomahawk steak by dribbling salt off his elbow. His strangely hypnotic performance captured the internet’s attention and generated a hefty amount of memes about being a little “extra.” Salt Bae ended up parlaying his fame into even greater success, as soon, his restaurants made headlines not only for his fancy seasoning but also for the exorbitant prices. Read more.

Come At Me, Bro

Considering how popular the catchphrase “come at me bro” was online, it may surprise you to learn that it was popularized by none other than Ronnie from “Jersey Shore.” The opening episode of the classic MTV reality series saw Ronnie get into an argument with a stranger, repeating “Come at me, bro” ad nauseum for minutes. The phrase soon made its way into classic image macros as seemingly every image with a vaguely braggadocious aura was captioned with the phrase. It may be out of fashion now, but considering its longevity, the phrase has certainly earned its place in the meme hall of fame. Read more.

Damn These Lemon Stealing Whores!

Pornography has always lent itself well to meme culture (and vice versa), and one of the earlier classic porn memes was (thankfully) not as explicit as some. Porn intros can get downright silly in their contrived setups for a sexual encounter, and perhaps no video illustrates that as well as “Lemon Stealing Whores.” The skit sees a couple admiring their beautiful lemon tree, but they are soon scandalized by the presence of a “lemon stealing whore.” Things unfold as you might expect from there, but the sketch was so ridiculous, it later became a viral video classic. Read more.

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