Meaning
What does Wait, that’s illegal mean?
The phrase comes from a reaction image, taken from the Halo themed Machinima series, Red vs. Blue, created by Rooster Teeth Productions.
It is used as a reaction for themes related to keeping and obeying the law and being a good citizen.
Origin
What's the origin of Wait, that’s illegal?
The episode, in which we encounter the expression, is from Season 2, titled Real Life vs. The Internet.
It originally aired in 2004, at the New York Video Festival.
Eleven years later, in 2015, the episode got uploaded on YouTube, to the great delight of the internet dwellers.
Spread & Usage
How did Wait, that’s illegal spread?
The line, with the character Church saying it became a reaction image in early 2019, starting its conquest of the web from the /r/MemeEconomy thread of Reddit.
From there, it had spread onto the /r/dankmemes subreddit, where several amazing memes have been published and reposted.
From Reddit, it had spread onto all the various mediums, where memers get their daily doses from, including Facebook meme groups and pages, as well as Instagram, 9gag, 4chan and whatever else is used for the daily procrastination by people.
The reaction image is most often encountered in gamer circles and memes, with themes appealing to this subculture of our new millennium.
External resources
- Know Your Meme – Wait, That’s Illegal