All Your Base Are Belong To Us

What Does All Your Base Are Belong To Us Mean?

The catchphrase "all your base are belong to us" (AYBABTU) is a mangled translation of a Japanese phrase that appeared in the video game "Zero Wing" (1991) by Toaplan. The phrase became an Internet sensation in early 2000, appearing on T-shirts, Photoshopped images and in real-world locations.

Advertisements

Techopedia Explains All Your Base Are Belong To Us

The "Zero Wing" game itself was mostly forgotten until the phrase popped up on the forums on somethingawful.com, a well-known site in the gaming community. From there, it spread virally through email and images, preserving the shoddy but amusing translation job for all time. Somethingawful.com is also credited with starting or spreading other Internet memes, such as "tourist guy."

Advertisements

Related Terms

Latest Gaming Terms

Related Reading

Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…