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Plus, learn about silly variations on the TOTR meme
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The TOTR meme is a silly, viral trend featuring an image or video clip of two naked, armless SpongeBobs marching across the screen with the caption “Тотя. 💗” But—what does it mean? The answer might surprise you (but if you’ve been a part of 2025 meme culture, it probably won’t). We’re sharing everything you need to know about the TOTR meme, including what it is, what it means, and how it got started. Let’s go!

What is the TOTR meme?

The TOTR meme is an image of two naked SpongeBobs without any arms, captioned with the Russian word Тотя (pronounced tot-ya). But Тотя is a gibberish word in Russian, and the meme doesn’t really mean anything. It’s part of the absurdist, Brainrot style humor that’s just funny because it’s nonsense.

Section 1 of 5:

What is the ‘Тотя. 💗’ meme?

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  1. The two SpongeBobs, which don’t have arms or clothes, walk cheerfully across the screen. The meme is usually captioned with “Тотя. 💗” (pronounced tot-ya), sometimes spelled Totya, Totя, or TOTR, like this TikTok from @therealgreek.
    • The image or clip of SpongeBob was taken from Season 9 Episode 11, titled “SpongeBob You’re Fired.”
      • Sometimes the meme features a longer clip from the episode, where SpongeBob feeds himself through a fan, dividing himself into 9 mini, naked SpongeBobs so he can wash dishes faster.[1]
    • The meme is usually paired with a sing-song Russian phrase followed by a clip from the song “Stay” by Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber, like in this TikTok from @y2.trust, which shows the SpongeBobs running backward into an open mouth.(The original sound used is usually “оригинальный звук” by @leslie.)
      • The lyrics from “Stay” say (“I do the same thing I told you that I never would, I told you I’d change even when I knew I never could.”)
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Section 2 of 5:

What does the TOTR meme mean?

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  1. As @hyperstrides explains in this TikTok, “Тотя is brainrot.” It’s part of the post-ironic, absurdist style of memes that have dominated most of 2025. It’s funny because it’s surreal and nonsensical, and part of the joke is that it confuses people because it doesn’t mean anything.[2]
    • In September 2025, when the Тотя meme was posted, the internet was being flooded with tons of nonsensical memes. For instance, Reddit user @sizzlingteapot11 referred to it as “the great meme flood of september ‘25.”
      • Redditor @notanothrowaway explained, “It's a part of a much bigger meme ‘the great meme rush’ where people are just making a bunch of random memes that make no sense.”
    • The word Тотя is similar to the Russian word Тетя, which means “aunt”—but it’s not quite the same.
    • Pairing an image with a Russian word is a common meme structure. One popular example is the Друг (or “Droog”) meme from 2015, where the Russian word for “friend” was used as a caption over a Deathclaw from a Fallout video game.[3]
Section 3 of 5:

Origin & Spread of the TOTR meme

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  1. This TikTok from @ddghfjwiedi3929 features a meme montage that includes SpongeBob with the caption “Тотя 💗.” The video got a lot of attention, gaining 200,000 likes in just two weeks. And like any good meme, it spread quickly.[4]
    • On September 5, @flad1kks.life posted a TikTok explaining the meaning of totr. (A few days later, he posted a version of the video with English captions.) After much research, he says he found that the meaning of Тотя is—Тотя.
    • On September 6, TikToker @nukemost posted a 3D animation of Тотя SpongeBob dancing to the song. It gained 120,000 likes in a single week.
    • On September 12, @szymeq13122 posted a TikTok where a group of friends had written “Тотя 67” on a Lego wall.
    • This YouTube video from user @h00pify racked up over 350,000 views for his sendup where he declared Тотя the “toughest meme in Russiaaaaa” and called it the “most niche meme of twenty-twenty-fiiiiiiiiiive.”
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Section 4 of 5:

Variations on the TOTR Meme

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  1. Absurdist Brainrot does what absurdist Brainrot gonna do. Users quickly put their own spin on Тотя, and the results might be even stranger than the original.
    • Тотя SpongeBob is often associated with another Russian meme called ПЫ (pronounced like Pui)—a potation Minion.[5] For instance, on September 3, @kuznichela posted a TikTok where he repeated “Тотя” and “ПЫ” over and over. The silly, catchy clip got 30,000 likes in 10 days.
    • The Тотя meme has also been remixed using other characters. For instance:
    • Тотя is often used in the “How it feels being on …” meme. On September 13, TikToker @julianwelsh7 posted a now-deleted video of musician Kirk Franklin captioned “How I feel being on Тотя while my class isn’t even on W Speed.” (This references the W Speed meme trend that features clips of streamer IShowSpeed doing mundane things over dramatic music.)
      • The “How it feels being on … when everyone else is still on …” meme structure caught on, becoming a trend in its own right. It’s especially meta in this TikTok from @isaac_nerd which says, “How it feels to be on ‘How it feels to be on’ when everyones still on ‘totr’, ‘dudeman’ and w speed’.”
Section 5 of 5:

More Meme Moments from 2025

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  1. If you want more silly memes, we’ve got you covered. From absurdist Brainrot to just plain viral moments, we’re as obsessed as you are. Check out these fun meme moments from 2025:
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About This Article

Amy Bobinger, BA
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Amy Bobinger, BA. Amy Bobinger holds a B.A. in English from Mississippi College and has spent over eight years helping people make sense of complicated topics. Since she began her career in 2016, she’s honed her skills in storytelling, content management, and editorial strategy. Amy loves turning complex information into something clear and useful, knowing that the right words can make a real difference in readers' lives.
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Co-authors: 3
Updated: December 25, 2025
Views: 248
Categories: Social Media
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