The line belongs to Arthas, the central fallen prince of Warcraft 3, in the game's Russian voice acting. Warcraft 3, released in 2002, gave its heroes short selectable lines, and terse commands like this one were easy to lift out of context. Shared on soundboards and reused in Russian-language edits, pomolchi became a shorthand way to tell someone to stop talking without a longer explanation. Its appeal endures because the meaning is instantly clear even to listeners who do not speak Russian, thanks to its blunt tone.