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About
“Designated Shitting Streets” is a catchphrase used to mock India’s open defecation issues, which is employed on some online communities like 4chan in order to make fun of Indian users, also being used as shitposting practise. An associated catchphrase, “Poo in the Loo”, has been used in similar way.
Origin
The earliest use of the phrase comes from a 4chan’s international board /int/ thread submitted on July 13th, 2015, where an Indian user complained about the “India smells bad and is dirty” jokes, claiming that people only defecates on “designated shitting streets” and not everywhere. That statement was consequently mocked in the thread and several compilations of reactions from users were made. The earliest archived use of the phrase can be found on a post from the politicaly incorrect board /pol/ from July 22nd, 2015.[1]
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Background
India is the lead country in open defecation, with near half of the population not using toilets in order to defecate.[2][3] During recent years, government from India has tried to find a solution to the issue.
Spread
During the following days, the catchphrase started gaining traction on /pol/, being used as reply to Indian posters and any post related to India, and shitposting practises like vertical posting or Lankyposting.[5] In late July 2015, a Mehmet, My Son version mocking the catchphrase and a post claiming India would be a “superpower by 2020” started circulating on /int/, being the first archieved use on /pol/ a post from July 25th, 2015.[4] On September 16th, 2015, reddit user binaryballsbikers submitted to /r/4chan a reaction compilation from the original thread, gaining near 500 points and over 60 comments in the following months.[6] On December 26th, 2015, reddit user butthole-scientist asked about the meaning of the catchphrase, gaining over 2,200 points and 360 comments in two weeks.[7]
Poo in the Loo
On February 14th, 2014, UNICEF India released a song titled “Take The Poo To The Loo” and launched a campaign by the same name in order to fight open defecation in the country, with the music video of the song recieving over 900,000 views in less than two years (shown bellow). However, the campaign was mocked on several online communities like /pol/, gaining traction in early July 2015, the time when “designated shitting streets” started being used.[8] Since then, it has become an equivalent catchphrase, being used to mock India too.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]archive.4plebs – Which ancient civilization is the best after the european one ?
[2]Times of India – With 58% figures, India tops in open defecation
[3]BBC News – Why do millions of Indians defecate in the open?
[4]archive.4plebs – 2015 / still not dating a traditional Indian girl
[5]archive.4plebs – Search for designated shitting streets in /pol/
[6]/r/4chan – Designated Shitting Streets
[7]/r/OutOfTheLoop – What are designated shitting streets and why am I seeing them all over reddit?
[8]archive.4plebs – Search for poo in the loo in /pol/