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In this Reel titled Bro did him dirty, a (white) cat is concealed within a box by another, which closes the lid by sitting on it. enter image description here

The top comment, which had been upvoted by more than 600 people, of the Reel reads that Bro got orange software. Could anyone please help explain the humor?

I have googled and found that orange software is not a widely recognized term in the technology or software industry. And neither of the two cats are orange. And the account(ofcoursekitty: Cute Cat Video) is unrelated to software or related products.

What does the 'orange software' mean? Why is it orange, and why is the white cat called software and orange software?

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  • When I click through, I see no orange or orange software.
    – Lambie
    Commented Dec 8, 2023 at 16:29
  • @Lambie You're right, although it's possible the comment was there before and then got deleted. Anyway, I did a Google search and it looks like Orange Software is actually a thing (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_(software)), but I'm not sure how it would tie into the cat video. My best guess is that the box that the cat is currently in was originally from something computer- or software-related (so, a pun on the box's original contents + "cat = soft"), but that still leaves "orange" unexplained.
    – Quack E. Duck
    Commented Dec 8, 2023 at 16:36
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    I’m voting to close this question because it's asking about a single one-off usage that's since been edited out anyway
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Dec 8, 2023 at 17:19
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    There is a stereotype that orange-striped cats are dumber than the average cat. The joke here is that the grey cat is acting dumb, and therefore his "software" (that is, the way his brain is operating, the way a computer operates) is like an orange cat's.
    – Canadian Yankee
    Commented Jan 25 at 22:11
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    @LernerZhang - I've expanded my comment into a full answer.
    – Canadian Yankee
    Commented Jan 25 at 23:56

3 Answers 3

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In this joke, "orange" is not a type of software, it's a type of cat.

There is a fairly widespread internet joke (at least on the parts of the internet that are devoted to cute cat pictures) that orange cats are particularly stupid or silly compared to the average cat.

Quoting from the Know Your Meme entry on "Orange Cat Behavior":

Orange Cat Behavior and Orange Cats Share One Brain Cell refers to the widespread notion and cliche that orange (ginger) cats are more chaotic, more affectionate and more stupid than other types of cats. The stereotype first started gaining spread online in 2019, and [...] achieved major recognition in 2022.

The "software" part of the joke is just the common metaphor of a brain being like a computer (or vice-versa).

Putting those two ideas together: "Bro got orange software," means, "The gray cat is acting like an orange cat," or just, "The gray cat is stupid and/or chaotic."

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The closest result I see is this article that says

The color orange represents playfulness and fun. They have an inviting energy with commanding attention. TikTok users describe "the orange person" meaning as someone who unexpectedly came into your life, but very quickly had an impact.

TikTok is rapidly generating its own linguistic subculture with such quirks. I might speculate that by "software," the commenter means the cat's personality, like the idiom "the way [someone] is wired." They may be saying simply that the cat is playful, but doing so in a way coded to the TikTok subculture.

General tip: If something on social media seems this hard to understand, even if highly voted, don't try too hard to understand; it's either a mistake that doesn't bear investigating, or an "edge usage" that you don't need for general usage.

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  • I thought there should be a reason for me to understand that for the sake of humor. I am not familiar with TikTok, but now I think the comment seems still very strange to me. Not funny at all. Cannot get those 'upvoters'.
    – Lerner Zhang
    Commented Dec 8, 2023 at 23:23
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    I wasn't familiar with this slang, but I think there may be alternate (and potentially related) explanation. Orange cats have a reputation for being less smart than other cats, at least within a lot of cat-meme culture. So I think it could be that the commenter is joking that the cat's gray "hardware" (ie, its body) incorrectly got orange "software" (as in, the gray cat is acting as stupidly as an orange cat would).
    – yshavit
    Commented Dec 9, 2023 at 9:50
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    (Note that in the reel, the gray cat doesn't seem to be intentionally trapping the other cat. He seems to be exploring the box, and is then confused that the other cat has mysteriously disappeared.)
    – yshavit
    Commented Dec 9, 2023 at 9:52
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Naveen Krishna is an Indian actor. I would guess that this is a reference to one of his shows or movies.

I couldn’t figure out anything further since there is almost no info available in English about his productions, but maybe he was in a show or movie where Orange was an evil software company.

I have no idea if he really made that post or if it was someone impersonating him, but either way, it was probably a reference to his work.

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