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The story behind “KEKW” emote in Twitch

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Twitch has spawned some of the most viral emotes of all time. Each one has its own story. Let’s explore the story of the “KEKW” emoji or emote in Twitch.

If you watch your favourite streamers on Twitch, chances are that you have come across this emote. It was created at a time when Twitch was going through one of the most evolving phases. There have been many emotes created during this period like- MonkaS, LULW, Kappa and PogChamp.

KEKW emote (youtube)

The Origin of KEKW

A video of a Spanish actor and comedian Juan Joya Borja became popular on the internet. Most people didn’t understand what was being said yet they enjoyed the comedian’s laugh.

His laughter is simply contagious and you can’t stop laughing with him. His toothless laugh has spawned many memes and has gotten viral since.

The Meaning of KEKW

If it is not understood by the emote, it basically means laughter. The laughing Spanish comedian became so popular that viewers thought he deserved his own emote on Twitch.

KEK has its own origin story. The simple answer is that it is the Korean equivalent of LOL. LOL has many variations across regions according to the language. In the CIS region, XAXAXA is used while in the Thai region 555 is used as the number sounds the same as HAHAHA. 

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The letter W beside KEK is used to describe the emote in Twitch. This is a common theme and can be seen in LULW and other such emotes. It is also used to describe an exaggerated facial expression. Hence the combination of all these forms the KEKW emote.

KEKW popularization

The KEKW emote started gaining popularity on Twitch in 2019. The popular streamers AdmiralBulldog and xQc used them during their streams. The emote soon replaced the other popular laughing emotes LOL, ROFL and LUL. Currently, it is one of the top 15 emotes on Twitch. 

KEKW spam in chat (Reddit)

So the next time you are watching your favourite streamer and something hilarious happens remember to spam KEKW in the chat. The Spanish comedian’s contagious laugh can brighten your whole day.

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Parth Joshi

Parth is a Content Writer at MediaReferee and Editor at Gamition. He is an avid Pokemon fan and likes to make obscure Pop culture references.

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