Pog

The "Pog" emote is a popular expression of excitement, surprise, or amazement in Twitch chat. It's essentially a cropped version of the original PogChamp emote, focusing just on the open mouth portion. When viewers type "Pog" in chat, they're communicating their enthusiasm or astonishment at something impressive or unexpected happening on stream.

The emote captures a moment of genuine surprise and is used to celebrate impressive gameplay moments, react to announcements, or express shock at unexpected events during streams.

The "Pog" emote originates from the famous "PogChamp" emote, which features the surprised face of Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez, a professional Street Fighter player and content creator. The original expression comes from a 2010 outtake video on his YouTube channel "Cross Counter TV," where Gutierrez made this surprised face after a cameraman accidentally bumped the camera.

The term "PogChamp" itself comes from a 2011 promotional video called "Pogs Championship" where Gutierrez played the 1990s milk cap game called Pogs (named after POG juice - Passion Orange Guava). After winning, he was dubbed the "Pog Champion" or "PogChamp."

The "Pog" variant became popular as a more compact version of PogChamp, focusing just on the mouth portion of the original emote. It gained widespread usage through third-party emote services like BetterTTV and 7TV, allowing for a more concise expression of the same emotion.

In January 2021, Twitch removed the original PogChamp emote due to controversial statements made by Gutierrez, but the "Pog" variants continued to thrive in Twitch culture through these third-party emote platforms.

The "Pog" emote is commonly used in these situations:

• When a streamer makes an impressive play or demonstrates exceptional skill
• During exciting announcements or reveals on stream
• When something unexpected or surprising happens
• To celebrate victories or achievements
• When reacting to clutch moments in competitive gameplay
• During hype moments like giveaways or special events
• When a streamer receives a large donation or subscription

The emote is versatile and can be seen in virtually any stream where viewers want to express excitement or amazement. It's often used in rapid succession by multiple viewers during particularly impressive moments, creating a cascade of "Pog" reactions in chat.