If you found out the meaning of pepega and that the emote might be offensive, would you still use it? Before we get to it, the real task is explaining the Internet culture and sub-culture that surrounds it and allows such terms and memes to originate.
So we’re here with the lowdown on what the word stands for, where its origins lie, and what is the emotion attached to it.
As we’ve already warned you, unlike other terms and emotes of its kind, the pepega emote doesn’t actually have a positive meaning to it.
It’s usually used as a cover for a word that’s considered inappropriate in today’s settings. Despite this, it has turned into a huge meme and has spread all across the Twitch community as the pepega emote. You’ve probably even seen it on another platform like Twitter or Instagram.
With that said, let’s get started by explaining to you everything you need to know about it, including its all-important meaning and history.
Who is Pepe the frog?
If you’ve seen the pepega emote, you’ve probably wondered what the imagery means. The story behind it is an old one and was recently the subject of much Internet controversy as it was in the news during the storming of the US Capitol building by an unruly mob of people earlier this year.
Pepe the frog originated as an Internet comic character back in 2005. Those were the days when MySpace ruled the roost in the online world and that was where it was originally shared by its maker, Matt Furie.
The webcomic was called Boy’s Club and featured Pepe the frog urinating with his pants pulled down to his ankles. When confronted by his friend as to why he is doing that, the frog simply says, “feels good man.”
Pepe the frog and the phrase “feels good man” were picked up by the Internet in a small way back then. But in 2008, the meme received a permanent home on 4chan where the frog would often be paired with other characters like Feels Guy and Wojak.
The Pepe the frog meme has astonishingly managed to survive as a meme through all these years. Part of the reason for this was its regular resurgence from time to time, whether it was through posts by celebs like Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj, or through its appropriation by the alt-right movement in the United States.
How is pepega pronounced?
Some people use the pronunciation Pepe-ga, while others say it as “peh peu ga.” There are few who also pronounce it as “pepu ga.”
But the fact is that all of those pronunciations are wrong and the real approach to pronouncing it is something like “peh peyguh” or “peh peh guh.”
Pepega meaning in Twitch emotes
Let’s get down to business. This is what you came here for. As we said, the meaning of the term isn’t quite pleasant. In fact, it is a euphemism for a particularly derogatory term.
It is something that users tend to treat as a politically correct way of saying “retard”, in reference to someone with a possible disability. And as you know, Twitch chat and other such sites feature the melted image of the frog in question.
Such Twitch emotes are used in conversation in chatrooms to convey reactions to whatever is happening on the stream at a given moment. So the pepega emote is basically used when someone makes a dumb move.
Related: Copium Meaning Explored: What Does It Mean on Twitch?
Pepega emote origin
It’s quite hard to find the exact origins of such images, but this particular term is said to have originated on Discord in 2018 when user Adew posted it for the first time.
This image by user Adew entered the chatrooms of a streamer by the name of Forsen, whose fans are also responsible for a few other famous emote memes like KEKW and malding.
The particularly committed bunch of fans of this Twitch streamer call themselves Forsen Boys or Forsen Bajs.
These days you will commonly find the words “For San” being written after the word in question is as a reference to Forsen.
Pepega clap
Twitch emotes are usually combined by someone in order to slightly alter their meaning or enhance their appeal.
Pepega clap is one of those cases – it brings together the pepega emote and the EZ Clap hands emote to denote a pepega clap.
Pepega megaphone
Pepega megaphone is one more variation of the Twitch emote and it’s focused on shouting Forsen’s name loud and clear. It was created back in October 2018.
Its imagery includes the original emote along with a megaphone that makes it appear like he is shouting.
Typically, the words “For San” are typed after the pepega megaphone image to show that the frog is shouting “For San” into the megaphone to address Forsen.
Also Read: What does LFG mean in slang?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pepega a slur?
Pepega itself can be described as a pejorative or something used to denote contempt or disapproval.
As we’ve mentioned above, many people use it on Twitch as a slur to allude that the person being addressed has mental handicaps.
It is often spammed in a stream when a streamer does something foolish or embarrassing, like missing an easy kill or dying in-game.
What does MonkaW mean?
To get what MonkaW means in the Twitch community, you first need to understand what MonkaS means.
It is another emote featuring a sweaty Pepe and is used in moments of intense action, anxiety-inducing sections, or during otherwise emotive moments.
MonkaW is nothing but a zoomed-in version of MonkaS, both being available in FrankerFaceZ and BTTV.
What does Pepe emote mean?
Pepe emotes are a genre in themselves. Like pepega, MoankW, and MonkaS, there are several more emotes that use the image of pepe to elicit humor either directly or ironically.
Their origin dates back to the above-mentioned frog character that was introduced via a webcomic back in 2005.
Who is the POG guy?
The face that was originally used for the PogChamp Twitch emote is that of a Twitch streamer who goes by the name Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez. Used to express joy or shock, it originates from a video uploaded to YouTube featuring behind-the-scenes footage.
Its origin dates back to 2012. Earlier this year, the emote was removed by Twitch following Gutierrez’s comments supporting the civil unrest that was caused in Washington DC during the storming of the United States Capitol.
Later on, when users and fans started demanding it back, Twitch released a unique face every 24 hours, each using the same or similar expression, allowing viewers to vote on one of these faces to become the permanent replacement.
The community has spoken!
Let's fire up the PogChamp Machine and activate the new face of Pog. pic.twitter.com/idQ2cNtMiH
— Twitch (@Twitch) February 12, 2021
Although Gutierrez was initially reluctant to allow the usage of his face on Twitch for the original PogChamp Twitch emote, he is known to have struck a deal with the company for an amount that might be between $50,000 to $100,000.
What are emotes?
First of all, an emote is not to be confused with something like an emoji.
While the latter is sanctioned by a governing body called Unicode and is used in traditional instant messaging or social media conversations, something like emotes are made by the gaming community and are used in live streams.
They are words or art that are entered in text-based chat clients to indicate the action that is taking place.
They were originally created by Shigetaka Kurita in Japan with the aim of offering a way of communication using images.
With the rise of Twitch and Discord, emotes have become a language within themselves, with streamers and their fans constantly coming up with new ones.
How do emotes define identity?
The emotes or memes that are created by streamers are usually subscription-based. This means anyone wanting to use them has to pay a fee, which can be around $4.99 a month.
This allows streamers to not only gain a new source of income, but also build and spread their brand around by leveraging the popularity of their memes. Emotes that have the faces of streamers on them can therefore go on to define their identities.
Also, users who are fans of a certain streamer can use the emote of another streamer in the former’s chat act as an act of displaying loyalty.
