You’ve probably read the expression KEKW in a gaming chat before. But do you know where he came from? Do you know the story and person behind the accompanying emote? In this article you will learn both.
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1 KEKW – meaning of the term in gaming
KEKW doesn’t stand for No Parent-Child Tools, but you can find out the real meaning here. (Image source: Pixabay, edit game tips)
What does KEKW mean?
KEKW is not an abbreviation, even if the capital letters suggest it. KEKW is a word that can be equated with a frenetic laugh.
Laughter is much more contagious than the widespread “LOL”. The Twitch platform even has its own emoji called KEKW. However, this is only available via browser extensions such as BetterTTV, which provide additional emotes.
KEKW is one of the most popular emotes on Twitch. (Image source: betterttv.com, screenshot game tips)
The person lending their face to this emote is Spanish comedian El Risitas. He gained worldwide fame through an interview on Spanish television, in which he captivated the presenter and the audience with his unique laugh. The KEKW emote was created as a screenshot of this interview.
The interview became known as a meme by adding new captions to the conversation. Mostly absurd events in world affairs were recorded and processed.
In the original, El Risitas tells a story from his working life. You can find the original translation in this YouTube video:
El Risitas passed away on April 28, 2021. Thanks to KEKW, however, he will not be forgotten.
Where does the name KEKW come from?
The term ‘kek’ has its origin in MMO World of Warcraft. There were two player factions: The Horde and the Alliance.
If a Horde player wanted to write with an Alliance player, this was converted to a fantasy language without a corresponding item. If the Horde wrote “LOL”, the Alliance would see “KEK” instead.
However, the meaning of the ‘W’ is still disputed. For example, the ‘W’ could stand for ‘what’ or ‘wide’. ‘Wide’ would refer to the El Risitas emote since it is a very zoomed-in section of the interview.
Want to learn more about gamer language?
Then take a look at our list of gaming terms, where we explain all the important abbreviations and words.
Examples of using the expression KEKW
Since KEKW is mostly equated with the face of El Risitas, the expression usually stands alone. KEKW is often written in response to something that is very funny and absurd. It is mostly situations in games or twitch streams that are commented on with this expression.
Talking to gamers can be difficult if you don’t speak their language. So that you don’t put your foot in it, we’ve collected sayings for you that no gamer likes to hear:
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