Get Fully Briefed with Yahoo Finance, delivered straight to your inbox.
You’ve probably seen “KEK” or “KEKW” on social media lately. But if you’re not plugged into geek culture, its meaning may be a mystery to you.
The term has become popular in Twitch chats and is one of its most popular emotes. However, “KEK” didn’t originate on Twitch. The acronym is actually from World of Worldcraft (WoW).
In WoW, when players see chat messages between the members of an opposing team, the words appear cryptically. It just so happens that when one team sends “LOL,” the enemy team sees “KEK.”
People began to say KEK instead of LOL outside of WoW — in places like Reddit, Twitter and Twitch.
Emotes are like emojis, or shrunken GIFs, used in Twitch chat. Users can access them through drop-down menus or write out a code to generate the image.
Some emotes are available to all users, while others might be specific to certain chats.
“KEKW” is an activation code that’s a riff on “KEK.” When a user types in “KEKW,” it generates the image of a laughing man.
However, this emote is only available to users who have the BTTV or FrankerFaceZ add-on installed on their browser. Each add-on expands Twitch’s features.
The laughing man is the late Spanish comedian El Risitas, hysterically laughing in a television segment.
In The Know is now available on Apple News — follow us here!
The post What does ‘KEK’ mean on Twitch? Who is the laughing guy in the Twitch emote? appeared first on In The Know.
More from In The Know:
Girlfriend re-gifts boyfriend’s expensive Christmas present: ‘Messed up’
Roommate accuses friend of deliberately letting her cooking ‘go bad’: ‘People are generally clueless’
Mom ‘nearly pukes’ when she looks at baby monitor and sees empty crib: ‘My baby disappeared’
Woman buys home from Gold Star Family, discovers girls’ emotional notes left all around house
The Australian property market has suffered its biggest decline on record. Here’s where prices have fallen the most.
Aussie renters may no longer have to choose between their furry friend and a roof over their head. Here’s what’s being proposed.
Almost 800 fines have been handed out in Queensland after a crackdown on transport, and Tesla has cut its prices to keep competition hot. This is your Monday morning wrap.
While many Aussies are facing a major jump in mortgage repayments, it's not like they haven't seen it coming. Stephen Koukoulas writes.
As if filling up the trolly wasn’t costly enough, Woolworths and Coles customers may soon see some staples rise in price yet again. This is what you need to know.
A Chinese-owned and built car has muscled its way up the bestseller list, foreshadowing how the Australian motoring landscape may change in the year ahead.
What does ‘KEK’ mean on Twitch? Who is the laughing guy in the Twitch emote? – Yahoo Finance Australia
