Who is Captain Obvious? Who is Captain Obvious Video: Mr. Freeman - it exists! Project history

Captain Obvious(Cap, KO, Captain Obvious) - a character personifying a person who says banal things that everyone has long known without him.

Origin

According to Wikireality, the meme was first used in the Google group comp.sys.mac.hardware in 1992 and sounded like: “Thank you, Captain Obvious.” The Know your meme website claims that Cap was first mentioned in 1998 in the textbook “A+: Core Module Study Guide” by David Grosz.

Wide SCSI-2 (small interface computer systems- approx.) is called that because it is wide (Captain Obvious is with you again) David Gros

Cap's most famous appearance in popular culture was in the 2000 film Dude, Where's My Car.

Captain Obvious has become a successful commercial brand; its products are sold in online stores Amazon and E-bay. Two separate ones are registered in the USA trademarks Captain Obvious with different logos.

At the beginning of 2016, Russian TV channels began showing a commercial for the Klin meat processing plant with the Captain in the title role.

Meaning

The phrase “Thank you, Cap” has become part of slang and is actively used both on the Internet and in oral speech. It is pronounced to make it clear that a person has said something that everyone has already known for a long time.

Captain Obvious is often portrayed as a superhero who is always ready to come to the rescue to express the truism. Sometimes Cap is drawn wearing a mask and with the letter O on his chest, in other cases, images of captains of different ships are used as a template.

One of the most common images of Cap is Captain Jean-Luc Picard from the Star Trek series, played by actor Patrick Stewart. He is also the face of the meme, when a person hits himself on the forehead with his palm, amazed at someone’s stupidity.

Gallery

Video: Mr. Freeman - it exists! Project history

Nowadays, many people use the phrase “Captain Obvious.” Where did this expression come from? Let's try to understand this difficult matter.

Hero

So, it would seem that you would have to delve into philosophy and logic for a very long time to understand how the expression “Captain Obvious” came to the modern world. Where did it come from, you ask, expecting long conversations on the topic of what is obvious to a modern person. But no, we will not philosophize. Instead, let's plunge into the world of... superheroes!

Video: A boy in pajamas, a bearded woman and a pilaf recipe. Express Meme History

The thing is that Captain Obvious, whose pictures you can see, is an American comic book superhero. He does not give advice, but answers the questions posed. With all this, adding at the end of the sentence “So-and-so!” The Captain's face is hidden by a mask, and on his black suit there is the letter "O", which means "Obvious". So, after it has become clear who Captain Obvious is and where the expression came from, let’s talk to you about what this comrade forgot in Russia.

Trouble has come...

But in America everything is not the same as in Russia. Americans have slightly different views on life and heroes. What is good for an American may be completely absurd for a Russian. After the question of where Captain Obvious is from is left behind, it is worth mentioning what this character represents in Russia.

The point is that the world is constantly and continuously developing. But people, surrounded by continuous machines that do everything for them, for the most part become stupid. This is how Internet trolls appeared. These are people who make stupid jokes and offend other users. It was they who redefined the meaning of the phrase “Captain Obvious.” Where this character came from is no longer important. The main thing is what it came to mean. Let's try to figure it out.

Distorted meaning

Naturally, in Russia many foreign things are remade and adapted “to the people.” But a superhero who helps various newcomers, named “Captain Obvious,” whose pictures can be found everywhere, has become a real laughing stock. Internet trolls decided to use him as an object for their mockery. So, the hero began to personify those people who say obvious things.

In fact, it may seem that there is nothing offensive in this phrase. True, if you hear it addressed to you (especially from modern schoolchildren who quickly absorb a new stream of stupid information), you will probably feel somewhat offended. In truth, Captain Obvious can be called a stupid person who says things that are already understandable.

Modification

So, you know who Captain Obvious is and where the expression comes from. It's time to talk to you about what modifications this expression has.

The thing is that in Russia many people associate “captain” more with a military rank, rather than with a superhero. So sometimes you can find some modified phrases that will have the same meaning as "Captain Obvious". What can you see/hear?

So, if on the Internet you saw the expression “Major Obviousness” or “General Obviousness,” then you should not find out what these phrases mean. The thing is that this is simply a Russian modification of the name of the American superhero.

In addition, Internet users can quite often use the phrase: “Thanks, Cap!” This also applies to our Captain Obvious. This is how people demonstrate that a particular answer is obvious/understandable. One way or another, if you were suddenly told something like “Thank you, Captain!”, you can be sure that it was better not to insert your 5 cents into this or that conversation.

Cap is fictional character, a meme that exists in the vastness global network. An Internet meme is any picture, phrase or phrase (usually humorous) that spontaneously spread on the Internet and became popular.

The phrase Captain Obvious was first used on August 3, 1992 in the English-language user conference of the Comp.sys.mac.hardware group.

On December 9, 2004, the first issue of the American webcomic Cyanide and Happiness was published, where Captain Obvious appeared as the hero, a kind of parody of the hero of other comics Captain America. This date is now considered Cap's birthday (Cap is short for Captain). In the comics, the Captain acts as an uninvited fighter against evil, ready to unselfishly come to the rescue, and in this he has something in common with Internet users who give unsolicited advice and comments.

Captain Obvious is a person who has said something so obvious that it sounds like a platitude. It is interesting that this banality is usually the most correct answer, but at the same time it is useless and does not reveal the essence of the question. For example, former American President George W. Bush was named Cap, after when asked “Why have you still not managed to catch Bin Laden?”, he answered: “He is hiding.” Another example of a Cap-style line: “It’s raining. Take an umbrella, otherwise you’ll get wet.”

Cap on the Russian-language Internet

Originally living on the expanses of the English-language Internet, Captain Obvious appeared in 2008 in the Russian-language segment of the global network. In honor of him, the website “Tak-to!ru” was even created.

Users sometimes sign themselves as Captain Obvious when they point out to their interlocutor some well-known fact or an obvious solution to a problem, which for some reason he himself did not think of. A person writes “Thank you, Cap!” when he was given unnecessary information, advice, or a truism. Today the phrase “Thank you, Cap!” has already become popular and is often used by people not only online, but also in everyday life.

Captain Obvious has his own signature on the Internet - “K.O.” He also has a distinctive feature - the habit of writing “So and so!” at the end of a sentence.

Later, the expressions Major Obviousness, General Obviousness began to appear on the Russian-language Internet, due to the fact that the word “captain” in Russia is associated with a military rank.

"with you again. In the era of the global absorption of the human mind by the Internet space, the creation of the active and passive vocabulary of each of us occurs precisely thanks to the information obtained in this way. That is why vocabulary and expressions appear in speech that may be incomprehensible not only to the interlocutor, but even to the person who pronounces these phrases. For example, what does the commonly used expression mean what interpretations does it have in our country, and also when is it appropriate to pronounce this phrase? Let's try to figure it out.

Overseas guest

Let's say right away that this phrase is of American origin. The common noun that this expression now is belonged to the main character of the animated series, then computer games, demo videos, etc. were created on its basis.

It’s not for nothing that Captain Obvious has attracted such attention from millions. According to the plot of the cartoon, he is a good-natured little man who, despite his constant desire to help, gets into trouble and finds himself in awkward and funny situations. He got this name because he pronounces the most obvious things inappropriately and inappropriately, which are understandable even to a child. Thus, the phrase “Captain Obvious” means that the person who was so named is, at a minimum, not entirely smart.

Forewarned is forearmed

This expression is used especially often in communication taking place on the World Wide Web. On forums, during discussions, in comments to articles you can see phrases like “Well, yes, who would doubt it, you’re Captain Obvious” or “Cap, how we missed your presence.” It is a rather subtle hint, the true meaning of which not everyone can understand.

In our country, the expression is also found in interpretation, so replacing the captain with a major or sergeant does not change the meaning.

Now you know what this expression means, and when you hear “Thanks, Cap” in a conversation, think about it: perhaps you shouldn’t interfere in the conversation if you are not particularly competent in the topic.