Owned (Uryl)

What is in the frame

The picture is a close-up of an elderly woman in a dark knit hat and a red jacket. Behind her is a yellow handrail and a blue sign, so it is clearly the interior of a bus or minibus. Her face is right up against the camera, and her expression is surprised and somewhat questioning. This is a screenshot, not a staged photo, and it was shot on a phone, so the quality is low.

The heroine's name is not given: she is a random participant in an everyday video, not a public figure. That's why it's better to use the meme for the words, not for the person.

Where the line came from

According to meme reviews, the original video was posted on YouTube around 2013–2014. In it, a passenger talks to a schoolboy. She asks whether he has read Dostoevsky. The boy says he has, and adds that he has also read Gogol. The woman reacts with an exclamation, admits that this is cool, and sums it up with the word “Uryl.”

It is this exchange of lines that is confirmed by the reviews. Further details about the video's heroine differ across retellings, so they are omitted here: they are not needed to understand the joke.

What the word means

The verb “uryt” comes from colloquial speech and slang, where it means “to crush, destroy, defeat.” In the line from the video, the word carries a reversed intonation: the person was not crushing anyone, but was crushed by the answer. That is why “uryl” became a playful admission: “You won,” “I have no counterargument.”

In spring 2020, the word spread on TikTok. Mostly, creators reproduced the dialogue itself: one asks a question, the other answers, and the first concedes defeat. Often the word “Uryl” was followed by the chorus of “Gucci Flip Flops,” which emphasized the victory.

Dialogue examples

“—Have you read Turgenev? —I have. Both ‘Mumu’ and ‘Fathers and Sons.’ —Well, uryl.” The version closest to the original.

“—Have you finished the report? —Finished and sent it yesterday. —Uryl.” An everyday version in which what surprises is not the knowledge, but the discipline.

“—Did you know there's a parking spot on this street? —Knew it, I took it yesterday. —Uryl.”

“—Did you assemble the wardrobe yourself? —Myself, and without any extra parts left over. —Uryl.” A joke about a miracle that wasn't supposed to work out.

How to use the meme

The word is best written briefly, without explanation: it works as a verdict-line after an unexpectedly strong answer. It suits both messaging and a caption under a screenshot. There is no need to use the picture to mock elderly people or the heroine of the video: the phrase is what's funny, not the person. If you joke about someone else's knowledge and erudition, do it in a friendly way: ideally, “uryl” signals sincere admiration delivered with irony.

A good joke needs a trick question and an unexpectedly strong answer. If the answer is predictable, the word “uryl” sounds cold. That's why it's better to ask questions that people usually answer “no” to: whether the conversation partner has read thick classics, assembled furniture without instructions, or got up at six in the morning of their own free will.

Remember that the word comes from a real everyday scene captured on camera. It lives well in text conversations without a picture, and in that case you don't involve the face of a specific person in the joke at all.