KEKW

KEKW is one of the most popular emotes on Twitch, used to express extreme laughter or amusement. The emote shows a man with his head tilted back in uncontrollable laughter, displaying his missing teeth. It represents a reaction to something that viewers find exceptionally funny - a step above the more moderate 'LUL' emote. When something truly hilarious happens on stream, viewers will often spam KEKW in the chat.

The KEKW emote features Juan Joya Borja, a Spanish comedian and actor better known by his nickname 'El Risitas' (meaning 'The Giggles'). The image comes from a 2007 interview on Spanish television channel Canal Sur, where Borja was telling a humorous story to host Jesus Quintero while breaking into his characteristic contagious laughter.

The term 'KEK' itself originated from World of Warcraft, where text typed by Horde players would appear as 'KEK' to Alliance players when they typed 'LOL'. The 'W' was later added following the pattern of other Twitch emotes, creating 'KEKW'.

The emote gained popularity on Twitch around 2019, with streamers like AdmiralBulldog and xQc being credited by some for helping popularize it, though its exact introduction to the platform is debated. The emote became widely used through third-party extensions like FrankerFaceZ (FFZ) and BetterTTV before becoming a staple of Twitch culture.

KEKW is typically used in the following contexts:

• When a streamer fails spectacularly at a game
• During particularly funny moments in a stream
• When something unexpectedly humorous happens
• As a response to jokes or comedic commentary
• When viewers want to express they're laughing extremely hard at something

The emote is often spammed in chat during these moments, creating a shared experience of laughter among viewers. While 'LUL' might be used for moderately funny content, KEKW is reserved for the truly hilarious moments that cause uncontrollable laughter.