KEKW is a FrankerFaceZ Twitch emote used to express extreme laughter. KEK originated in World of Warcraft as a cross-faction translation of "LOL." The W suffix denotes exaggerated emotion. The face in the emote belongs to Spanish comedian Juan Joya Borja, nicknamed El Risitas โ "The Giggles."
If you have ever dropped into a Twitch stream mid-game and seen the chat explode with the letters "KEKW," you are not alone in wondering what on earth is going on. It looks like a keyboard malfunction. It sounds like a parrot sneezing. But it is actually one of the most beloved laugh emotes in streaming history. Let's break it down properly.
What Does KEKW Actually Mean?
Put simply, KEKW means laughter โ specifically uncontrollable laughter. Think of it as Twitch's version of LMAO, but with a face attached. When streamers do something genuinely hilarious โ miss a simple shot, fall off a cliff for the fifth time, or blurt out something accidental โ the chat fills up with KEKW faster than you can blink.
The emote shows the face of Spanish comedian Juan Joya Borja, head tilted back mid-cackle. It is one of the most contagious expressions ever captured on television, which is exactly why it became a meme.
The Laughter Scale: Where Does KEKW Sit?
Twitch has an entire hierarchy of laugh emotes. Here is how they compare, from mild amusement to completely losing your mind:
According to StreamLadder, LUL is mild amusement, KEKW is genuine uncontrollable laughter, and OMEGALUL is "so funny I can't breathe." They form a neat intensity scale that Twitch users navigate instinctively. StreamLadder
The Origin of KEK โ It All Started in World of Warcraft
This is where things get genuinely clever. The word "KEK" did not start on Twitch. It came from World of Warcraft.
In WoW, players from opposing factions could not read each other's chat directly. The game translated messages through a language filter. So when a Horde player typed "LOL," an Alliance player would see it rendered as "KEK" in their chat box. Dexerto
- Horde types "LOL" โ Alliance player sees "KEK"
- Alliance types "LOL" โ Horde player sees "BUR"
- KEK stuck as a synonym for LOL โ especially in online gaming circles
- It spread from WoW into forums, Reddit, Twitter, and eventually Twitch
Meanwhile, Korean gamers had already been using "kekeke" (ใ ใ ใ in Korean) as their equivalent of "hahaha" โ similar pronunciation, same meaning. The two streams of slang merged into the same internet shorthand. AFK Gaming
Why Did "W" Get Added?
On Twitch, the letter "W" became a convention for widened or exaggerated versions of emotes. You have LUL becoming LULW, and POG becoming POGW. So KEK becoming KEKW was a natural evolution โ it signals the extreme version of the laugh. TechShout
| Component | Origin | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| KEK | World of Warcraft cross-faction chat translation | The equivalent of "LOL" |
| W | Twitch emote naming convention | Exaggerated or widened emotion |
| KEKW (image) | FrankerFaceZ, submitted Aug 2019 by user "Keesual" | El Risitas' laughing face from 2007 TV interview |
Who Is El Risitas? The Man Behind the Face
Juan Joya Borja, born 5 April 1956 in Seville, Spain, was a Spanish comedian and actor. He went by the nickname El Risitas โ Andalusian Spanish for "The Giggles." The Guardian once described his laugh as sounding like "a dolphin with a 20-a-day habit." That is not an insult. It is a compliment. Wikipedia / El Risitas
The Paella Story That Changed Internet History
In June 2007, Borja appeared on the Spanish TV show Ratones Coloraos, hosted by Jesรบs Quintero. He told a story from his days working as a kitchen porter at a beach restaurant. Here is what happened:
- He needed to clean 20 large paella pans (paelleras) overnight.
- He tied them with sticks and left them at the ocean's edge to soak in seawater.
- He went to sleep.
- The tide rose. The pans floated out to sea.
- When he returned in the morning, only one pan remained.
It was not even that catastrophic a story. But the way Borja told it โ constantly interrupted by his own wheezing, high-pitched, completely uncontrollable laugh โ made it something else entirely. The video was uploaded to YouTube on 25 June 2007. Wikipedia / El Risitas
How the Meme Spread
By 2014, clip footage from the Borja interview started going viral on Reddit. Meme creators took the video and added subtitles โ usually making it look like El Risitas was laughing at some corporate decision, gaming disaster, or political blunder. The template became enormously flexible. Know Your Meme
- 2014 โ Clip goes viral on Reddit
- 2014 โ Used in Egyptian political satire targeting presidential candidate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
- 2015 โ International meme explosion with subtitle parodies
- 2019 โ Face turned into the KEKW Twitch emote
How Did KEKW Get on Twitch?
On 21 August 2019, a FrankerFaceZ user named Keesual submitted the KEKW emote to the platform. It used a still frame from the Borja interview โ his face tilted back, mouth wide open, completely lost in laughter. Know Your Meme
Within weeks, major streamers picked it up. Two names in particular sent its usage into orbit:
- xQc (Felix Lengyel) โ one of Twitch's most-watched streamers, enabled the emote in his channel
- AdmiralBulldog โ another prominent streamer who adopted it early on
Once those channels started using it, their massive audiences followed. KEKW spread like wildfire through Twitch chat and became a staple of streaming culture by the end of 2019. AFK Gaming
Complete KEKW Timeline
Juan Joya Borja appears on Ratones Coloraos. The interview is filmed and uploaded to YouTube.
The clip goes viral on Reddit. Subtitle meme templates proliferate across the internet.
FrankerFaceZ user Keesual submits the KEKW emote. xQc and AdmiralBulldog begin using it.
KEKW becomes one of the most-used emotes on all of Twitch. Pandemic-era streaming boom accelerates growth.
Juan Joya Borja (El Risitas) passes away at age 65. The Twitch community mourns. The emote lives on in his memory.
KEKW remains among the top laugh emotes on Twitch. Variants like KEKWow and KEKWhat emerge.
How to Use KEKW on Twitch
KEKW is not a default Twitch emote. You will not find it in Twitch's built-in emote library. To use it, you need a browser extension. Here is exactly what to do:
| Step | Action | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Go to frankerfacez.com or betterttv.com | Browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) |
| 2 | Install the extension for your browser | Chrome / Firefox / Edge |
| 3 | Log into Twitch โ extension activates automatically | Twitch.tv |
| 4 | Open any stream's chat. Type KEKW and the emote appears | Any Twitch channel |
When Should You Use KEKW?
- A streamer fails spectacularly at something they claimed was easy
- An unexpected moment catches everyone off guard
- A streamer says something unintentionally hilarious
- The game glitches in a genuinely absurd way
- Chat itself says something that lands perfectly in context
How Do You Pronounce KEKW?
There is no universal agreement, which is peak internet. Common pronunciations include "Kik-u," "Keh-kew," and "Kay-kew." The TechShout guide suggests turning KEK into "KIK" and adding a "U" sound at the end. However you say it, people will know what you mean. TechShout
KEKW Variants and Spin-Off Emotes
When an emote becomes truly popular, the community starts remixing it. KEKW is no exception. Here are the notable variants you might encounter:
| Emote Variant | What It Means / When to Use It |
|---|---|
| KEKW | Standard extreme laughter. The OG. |
| KEKWow | Extra emphasis. Something genuinely jaw-dropping funny. |
| KEKWhat | Laughter mixed with confusion. "I can't believe that just happened." |
| kekw (lowercase) | Softer version โ some users find the lowercase version funnier or more casual. |
The Passing of Juan Joya Borja (El Risitas)
Rest in Peace โ Juan Joya Borja
On 28 April 2021, Juan Joya Borja passed away in Seville, Spain, at the age of 65. He had been hospitalised since September 2020 due to a vascular condition, which resulted in the amputation of one leg. The Twitch community โ and much of the internet โ responded with an outpouring of grief and gratitude. His laugh had brought joy to millions of people who had never spoken a word of Spanish. The KEKW emote remains active on Twitch as a tribute to his memory.
Streamers across the platform took a moment to acknowledge his passing. MrDalekJD wrote on Twitter: "Aww manโฆ RIP to El Risitas, an absolute internet legend. No one is going to forget that infectious KEKW laugh anytime soon." Monsters & Critics
Team Secret, xQc, and many other prominent Twitch figures posted tributes. The consensus was simple โ El Risitas had made more people laugh than most comedians ever do. And he did it by just being himself. Sportskeeda
Why KEKW Beat LUL and LULW
KEKW did not just become popular โ it actively started replacing older laugh emotes. Here is why:
- More expressive face โ El Risitas' laugh is more extreme and more relatable than the LUL face
- Meme pedigree โ the image already had years of viral meme history before it arrived on Twitch
- Perfect timing โ it arrived just as streaming was booming globally in 2019โ2020
- W suffix momentum โ the naming convention felt native to Twitch culture
By 2020, Dexerto reported that KEKW had "almost double the usage of LULW." That gap has only grown since. Dexerto
According to Wikipedia's article on El Risitas, KEKW occupies 10th place among the most popular FrankerFaceZ emotes with over 400 million uses in chat. For a third-party emote โ one that requires a browser extension and is not even natively available โ that is extraordinary. Wikipedia
KEKW vs Other Laugh Emotes: Quick Comparison
| Emote | Face | Intensity Level | Platform Availability | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LUL | TotalBiscuit (John Bain) | Low / Medium | Native Twitch (global) | Cartoon version (original removed/reinstated) |
| LULW | TotalBiscuit (original) | Medium | FrankerFaceZ / BTTV | Active |
| KEKW | El Risitas (Juan Joya Borja) | High | FrankerFaceZ / BTTV / 7TV | Active โ top 10 FFZ emote |
| OMEGALUL | John "TotalBiscuit" Bain | Extreme | FrankerFaceZ / BTTV | Active |
Frequently Asked Questions About KEKW
Is KEKW offensive?
No. KEKW has no negative connotations. It simply means extreme laughter. It is one of the most universally understood and widely accepted emotes in Twitch chat.
Can you use KEKW on Discord or other platforms?
Yes. KEKW has spread well beyond Twitch. Users now deploy the image in Discord servers, Telegram groups, WhatsApp chats, and Reddit threads. The emote format is supported natively in Discord with Nitro. TechWorm
Why was KEKW temporarily removed from some channels?
Following Juan Joya Borja's death on 28 April 2021, Twitch temporarily removed the emote as a mark of respect. It was later reinstated. The emote continues to be used in his honour. Daily Dot
Is KEKW available on mobile Twitch?
Not natively. Browser extensions like FrankerFaceZ and BTTV do not work on the Twitch mobile app. On mobile, you will see "KEKW" as plain text rather than the image. Third-party apps like Chatterino offer some emote support on mobile.
Related Articles You Might Enjoy
Final Thoughts
KEKW is one of those rare internet phenomena that genuinely deserves the word "organic." It was not manufactured by a corporation. A random Spanish comedian laughed at his own story about losing pans in the ocean. Someone in 2014 found the clip. Someone in 2019 turned it into an emote. Two streamers used it. And then millions of people adopted it โ because it perfectly captured the feeling of losing yourself to laughter.
It is three letters and a W. It stands for a World of Warcraft translation of "LOL" crossed with Twitch's naming conventions and the face of a man from Seville. And yet somehow, in chat rooms full of people who have never met, it communicates something totally universal.
That is the internet at its best, honestly. Juan Joya Borja would probably have laughed at the whole story. Which would have just made more KEKW material.
Sources: Know Your Meme โ KEKW ยท Wikipedia โ El Risitas ยท Dexerto โ KEKW Explained ยท AFK Gaming ยท StreamLadder โ KEKW Emote ยท TechShout ยท Dot Esports โ El Risitas Death ยท Daily Dot โ KEKW
KEKW is a FrankerFaceZ Twitch emote used to express extreme laughter. KEK originated in World of Warcraft as a cross-faction translation of "LOL." The W suffix denotes exaggerated emotion. The face in the emote belongs to Spanish comedian Juan Joya Borja, nicknamed El Risitas โ "The Giggles."
If you have ever dropped into a Twitch stream mid-game and seen the chat explode with the letters "KEKW," you are not alone in wondering what on earth is going on. It looks like a keyboard malfunction. It sounds like a parrot sneezing. But it is actually one of the most beloved laugh emotes in streaming history. Let's break it down properly.
What Does KEKW Actually Mean?
Put simply, KEKW means laughter โ specifically uncontrollable laughter. Think of it as Twitch's version of LMAO, but with a face attached. When streamers do something genuinely hilarious โ miss a simple shot, fall off a cliff for the fifth time, or blurt out something accidental โ the chat fills up with KEKW faster than you can blink.
The emote shows the face of Spanish comedian Juan Joya Borja, head tilted back mid-cackle. It is one of the most contagious expressions ever captured on television, which is exactly why it became a meme.
The Laughter Scale: Where Does KEKW Sit?
Twitch has an entire hierarchy of laugh emotes. Here is how they compare, from mild amusement to completely losing your mind:
According to StreamLadder, LUL is mild amusement, KEKW is genuine uncontrollable laughter, and OMEGALUL is "so funny I can't breathe." They form a neat intensity scale that Twitch users navigate instinctively. StreamLadder
The Origin of KEK โ It All Started in World of Warcraft
This is where things get genuinely clever. The word "KEK" did not start on Twitch. It came from World of Warcraft.
In WoW, players from opposing factions could not read each other's chat directly. The game translated messages through a language filter. So when a Horde player typed "LOL," an Alliance player would see it rendered as "KEK" in their chat box. Dexerto
- Horde types "LOL" โ Alliance player sees "KEK"
- Alliance types "LOL" โ Horde player sees "BUR"
- KEK stuck as a synonym for LOL โ especially in online gaming circles
- It spread from WoW into forums, Reddit, Twitter, and eventually Twitch
Meanwhile, Korean gamers had already been using "kekeke" (ใ ใ ใ in Korean) as their equivalent of "hahaha" โ similar pronunciation, same meaning. The two streams of slang merged into the same internet shorthand. AFK Gaming
Why Did "W" Get Added?
On Twitch, the letter "W" became a convention for widened or exaggerated versions of emotes. You have LUL becoming LULW, and POG becoming POGW. So KEK becoming KEKW was a natural evolution โ it signals the extreme version of the laugh. TechShout
| Component | Origin | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| KEK | World of Warcraft cross-faction chat translation | The equivalent of "LOL" |
| W | Twitch emote naming convention | Exaggerated or widened emotion |
| KEKW (image) | FrankerFaceZ, submitted Aug 2019 by user "Keesual" | El Risitas' laughing face from 2007 TV interview |
Who Is El Risitas? The Man Behind the Face
Juan Joya Borja, born 5 April 1956 in Seville, Spain, was a Spanish comedian and actor. He went by the nickname El Risitas โ Andalusian Spanish for "The Giggles." The Guardian once described his laugh as sounding like "a dolphin with a 20-a-day habit." That is not an insult. It is a compliment. Wikipedia / El Risitas
The Paella Story That Changed Internet History
In June 2007, Borja appeared on the Spanish TV show Ratones Coloraos, hosted by Jesรบs Quintero. He told a story from his days working as a kitchen porter at a beach restaurant. Here is what happened:
- He needed to clean 20 large paella pans (paelleras) overnight.
- He tied them with sticks and left them at the ocean's edge to soak in seawater.
- He went to sleep.
- The tide rose. The pans floated out to sea.
- When he returned in the morning, only one pan remained.
It was not even that catastrophic a story. But the way Borja told it โ constantly interrupted by his own wheezing, high-pitched, completely uncontrollable laugh โ made it something else entirely. The video was uploaded to YouTube on 25 June 2007. Wikipedia / El Risitas
How the Meme Spread
By 2014, clip footage from the Borja interview started going viral on Reddit. Meme creators took the video and added subtitles โ usually making it look like El Risitas was laughing at some corporate decision, gaming disaster, or political blunder. The template became enormously flexible. Know Your Meme
- 2014 โ Clip goes viral on Reddit
- 2014 โ Used in Egyptian political satire targeting presidential candidate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
- 2015 โ International meme explosion with subtitle parodies
- 2019 โ Face turned into the KEKW Twitch emote
How Did KEKW Get on Twitch?
On 21 August 2019, a FrankerFaceZ user named Keesual submitted the KEKW emote to the platform. It used a still frame from the Borja interview โ his face tilted back, mouth wide open, completely lost in laughter. Know Your Meme
Within weeks, major streamers picked it up. Two names in particular sent its usage into orbit:
- xQc (Felix Lengyel) โ one of Twitch's most-watched streamers, enabled the emote in his channel
- AdmiralBulldog โ another prominent streamer who adopted it early on
Once those channels started using it, their massive audiences followed. KEKW spread like wildfire through Twitch chat and became a staple of streaming culture by the end of 2019. AFK Gaming
Complete KEKW Timeline
Juan Joya Borja appears on Ratones Coloraos. The interview is filmed and uploaded to YouTube.
The clip goes viral on Reddit. Subtitle meme templates proliferate across the internet.
FrankerFaceZ user Keesual submits the KEKW emote. xQc and AdmiralBulldog begin using it.
KEKW becomes one of the most-used emotes on all of Twitch. Pandemic-era streaming boom accelerates growth.
Juan Joya Borja (El Risitas) passes away at age 65. The Twitch community mourns. The emote lives on in his memory.
KEKW remains among the top laugh emotes on Twitch. Variants like KEKWow and KEKWhat emerge.
How to Use KEKW on Twitch
KEKW is not a default Twitch emote. You will not find it in Twitch's built-in emote library. To use it, you need a browser extension. Here is exactly what to do:
| Step | Action | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Go to frankerfacez.com or betterttv.com | Browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) |
| 2 | Install the extension for your browser | Chrome / Firefox / Edge |
| 3 | Log into Twitch โ extension activates automatically | Twitch.tv |
| 4 | Open any stream's chat. Type KEKW and the emote appears | Any Twitch channel |
When Should You Use KEKW?
- A streamer fails spectacularly at something they claimed was easy
- An unexpected moment catches everyone off guard
- A streamer says something unintentionally hilarious
- The game glitches in a genuinely absurd way
- Chat itself says something that lands perfectly in context
How Do You Pronounce KEKW?
There is no universal agreement, which is peak internet. Common pronunciations include "Kik-u," "Keh-kew," and "Kay-kew." The TechShout guide suggests turning KEK into "KIK" and adding a "U" sound at the end. However you say it, people will know what you mean. TechShout
KEKW Variants and Spin-Off Emotes
When an emote becomes truly popular, the community starts remixing it. KEKW is no exception. Here are the notable variants you might encounter:
| Emote Variant | What It Means / When to Use It |
|---|---|
| KEKW | Standard extreme laughter. The OG. |
| KEKWow | Extra emphasis. Something genuinely jaw-dropping funny. |
| KEKWhat | Laughter mixed with confusion. "I can't believe that just happened." |
| kekw (lowercase) | Softer version โ some users find the lowercase version funnier or more casual. |
The Passing of Juan Joya Borja (El Risitas)
Rest in Peace โ Juan Joya Borja
On 28 April 2021, Juan Joya Borja passed away in Seville, Spain, at the age of 65. He had been hospitalised since September 2020 due to a vascular condition, which resulted in the amputation of one leg. The Twitch community โ and much of the internet โ responded with an outpouring of grief and gratitude. His laugh had brought joy to millions of people who had never spoken a word of Spanish. The KEKW emote remains active on Twitch as a tribute to his memory.
Streamers across the platform took a moment to acknowledge his passing. MrDalekJD wrote on Twitter: "Aww manโฆ RIP to El Risitas, an absolute internet legend. No one is going to forget that infectious KEKW laugh anytime soon." Monsters & Critics
Team Secret, xQc, and many other prominent Twitch figures posted tributes. The consensus was simple โ El Risitas had made more people laugh than most comedians ever do. And he did it by just being himself. Sportskeeda
Why KEKW Beat LUL and LULW
KEKW did not just become popular โ it actively started replacing older laugh emotes. Here is why:
- More expressive face โ El Risitas' laugh is more extreme and more relatable than the LUL face
- Meme pedigree โ the image already had years of viral meme history before it arrived on Twitch
- Perfect timing โ it arrived just as streaming was booming globally in 2019โ2020
- W suffix momentum โ the naming convention felt native to Twitch culture
By 2020, Dexerto reported that KEKW had "almost double the usage of LULW." That gap has only grown since. Dexerto
According to Wikipedia's article on El Risitas, KEKW occupies 10th place among the most popular FrankerFaceZ emotes with over 400 million uses in chat. For a third-party emote โ one that requires a browser extension and is not even natively available โ that is extraordinary. Wikipedia
KEKW vs Other Laugh Emotes: Quick Comparison
| Emote | Face | Intensity Level | Platform Availability | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LUL | TotalBiscuit (John Bain) | Low / Medium | Native Twitch (global) | Cartoon version (original removed/reinstated) |
| LULW | TotalBiscuit (original) | Medium | FrankerFaceZ / BTTV | Active |
| KEKW | El Risitas (Juan Joya Borja) | High | FrankerFaceZ / BTTV / 7TV | Active โ top 10 FFZ emote |
| OMEGALUL | John "TotalBiscuit" Bain | Extreme | FrankerFaceZ / BTTV | Active |
Frequently Asked Questions About KEKW
Is KEKW offensive?
No. KEKW has no negative connotations. It simply means extreme laughter. It is one of the most universally understood and widely accepted emotes in Twitch chat.
Can you use KEKW on Discord or other platforms?
Yes. KEKW has spread well beyond Twitch. Users now deploy the image in Discord servers, Telegram groups, WhatsApp chats, and Reddit threads. The emote format is supported natively in Discord with Nitro. TechWorm
Why was KEKW temporarily removed from some channels?
Following Juan Joya Borja's death on 28 April 2021, Twitch temporarily removed the emote as a mark of respect. It was later reinstated. The emote continues to be used in his honour. Daily Dot
Is KEKW available on mobile Twitch?
Not natively. Browser extensions like FrankerFaceZ and BTTV do not work on the Twitch mobile app. On mobile, you will see "KEKW" as plain text rather than the image. Third-party apps like Chatterino offer some emote support on mobile.
Related Articles You Might Enjoy
Final Thoughts
KEKW is one of those rare internet phenomena that genuinely deserves the word "organic." It was not manufactured by a corporation. A random Spanish comedian laughed at his own story about losing pans in the ocean. Someone in 2014 found the clip. Someone in 2019 turned it into an emote. Two streamers used it. And then millions of people adopted it โ because it perfectly captured the feeling of losing yourself to laughter.
It is three letters and a W. It stands for a World of Warcraft translation of "LOL" crossed with Twitch's naming conventions and the face of a man from Seville. And yet somehow, in chat rooms full of people who have never met, it communicates something totally universal.
That is the internet at its best, honestly. Juan Joya Borja would probably have laughed at the whole story. Which would have just made more KEKW material.
Sources: Know Your Meme โ KEKW ยท Wikipedia โ El Risitas ยท Dexerto โ KEKW Explained ยท AFK Gaming ยท StreamLadder โ KEKW Emote ยท TechShout ยท Dot Esports โ El Risitas Death ยท Daily Dot โ KEKW
