About

Sauce, often used in all caps along with "ZOMG," "OMG" and "PLZ," is a slang version of the word "source" frequently seen online. It is used, usually in a pleading tone, as a request to someone who posted a claim, picture or anything that raises interest but is unsourced or lacking information. Its goal is to prove it, confirm it or see more from the initial content. Sauce shares some similarities to Moar and Bump as a request for elaboration, additional content or the original source.

Origin

The original reference to "sauce" meaning "source" comes from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, a 2002 anime series that was first aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in November 2004 (U.S. release). In episode 9, titled "C: The Man Who Dwells in the Shadows of the Net – CHAT! CHAT! CHAT!" (ネットの闇に棲む男 CHAT! CHAT! CHAT!), one of the scenes takes place in a virtual-reality chatroom where one avatar asks for sources and another mocks him with the phrases "sarce" and "soy sauce" (shown below).

According to information I got from this particular source, the victimized corporations had hired assassins even before the incident.

- Which "sauce" did you get it from ? Pork cutlet ? Oyster ?

Beginning in 2004 on 4chan, it became somewhat common for users to ask for the source of anything by typing "SOURCE!" or "SOURCE PLZ!" right from the start. Moot, 4chan's creator who was inspired by the show's reference, decided to add a word filter changing every occurrence of "source" to "sauce."^[1] The word filter has since been deactivated, but the slang took over on 4chan as a result of its use, subsequently spreading to other sites and platforms in the following years.

Spread

Around the time 4chan implemented word filters, the Lurkmore Wiki^[2] added a definition for the use of sauce on the site, defined as:

Usually a request for the source of a picture. Often seen in image macros usually featuring hot chili sauce, ketchup, or other savory fluid condiments. Associated with the set phrases "ZOMG SAUCE" or "SAUCE PLZ". "Sauce" has replaced "source" indefinitely on 4chan and the rest of the internet.

On December 26th, 2004, Urban Dictionary^[3] user DarkHowie added an entry to the site defining the term as "Another way of saying source," which received over 5,300 likes in roughly 17 years (shown below).

Several websites based on the meme have also been created over the years, including:

• Zomgsauce^[4] – Formerly a blog, now a hot sauce brand.
• SaucePlz^[5] – A Wikipedia for files collected in "sauce requests."
• Saucenao^[6] – A website to find the source of various pictures.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References