Original Doge meme.

In the quirky world of memes and assorted tomfoolery that dominates Internet life and culture in the 21^st century, Costa Rica stands out as a very active nation both in terms of generation and propagation. There is, however, one particular meme that Costa Rica has mostly failed to adapt despite having reverberated on a global scale and even launched a virtual currency. We are talking about Doge, of course, and its conspicuous absence in Costa Rica deserves a closer look.

As the most popular social media platform in Costa Rica, Facebook is used by Ticos as a repository for memes and as a tool for spying on romantic partners who may wander into unfaithful territory. Granted, Facebook served democracy well during the (still ongoing) presidential campaign, but Mark Zuckerberg‘s significant contribution to Costa Rica’s netizens is mostly used as a place for sharing memes and other time-consuming absurdities.

It stands to reason that avid Internet users in Costa Rica certainly know about Doge. After all, this is a meme that dates back to late 2010, and it has been subject to massive viral spread since last year. In the last few months, Doge has been deconstructed by publications such as The Guardian (UK), Slate, the Washington Post, and others. Even the United States Department of Health and Human Services has used the Doge meme as a public service announcement in favor of the contentious “Obamacare” medical insurance plan.

Since there may be one (or two, at the most) readers who may not be familiar with Doge, we defer to The Guardian for an explanation:

[Doge] involves superimposing broken English written in multi-coloured Comic Sans on to pictures of shiba inus, a small Japanese breed of dog known for its spirited stubbornness.

Key to Doge grammar are the core five modifiers: such, very, many, so, and much; as well as the exclamation “wow”. As for which modifiers are used in which circumstances, that’s less set in stone. But a good guideline is that if it sounds subtly wrong in English, it’s probably OK in Doge.

For further enlightenment into Doge, it helps to know that the original shiba was rescued from a puppy mill in Japan. She grew up into an adorable companion animal, and one day her master took the iconic picture of Kabosu with her crossed paws and seemingly arching eyebrows. In the photo, Kabosu seems concerned and bewildered to the point of showing the whites of her eyes, which is unusual among shibas. Typical Doge meme creators invent inner monologues using English grammar that they consider to be representative of the canine intellect.

The Doge meme has even entered the world of electronic currencies. Dogecoin, which derives from Litecoin, is a cryptocurrency similar to Bitcoin. At this time, several online currency exchanges allow traders to exchange Dogecoin. As with Bitcoin, people in Costa Rica have thus far not shown too much enthusiasm for Dogecoin. According to BitInfoCharts, only about 16 dogecoins are currently circulating in Costa Rica. Considering that the current exchange rate is $1.06 per 1,000 Dogecoins, there is not that much Doge wealth in Costa Rica at this time.

One of Doge’s notable appearances in Costa Rica took place on January 12. The Facebook Timeline of Memes a lo Tico featured a cropped Kabosu staring at a flat-screen monitor while the author praised the use of Facebook during the electoral campaign for the purpose of informing voters about their options. At the Memes Costa Rica generator, the Doge option is one of the least utilized -the most popular is an image of a sexy transit policewoman directing traffic.

Why has Doge been mostly ignored by the vibrant Internet community in Costa Rica? There may a lexical factor at play: The use of equivalent modifiers in Spanish may not have the same effect; in fact, the current slang vernacular in Costa Rica calls for mutilating modifiers as is. For example, young Ticos these days tend to use “dem,” a shortened version of “demasiado” (too much or verily) to express their ideas. Some native English speakers may hear young Ticos say “damn cool,” when in reality they are saying “dem. cool.” The English language is taking over Costa Rica, so we also have the use of “full” instead of “much” or “very,” as in “la parada está full,” (the bus stop is very crowded). And what about the exclamation “wow?” In Spanish it would be “guau,” which just happens to be onomatopoeia for a dog’s bark -very apropos to Doge.

Only Internet time will tell if Doge will attain viral status in Costa Rica. Until that time, there are the “Meanwhile in Costa Rica” memes and creepypasta to keep Tico netizens entertained.