What are stonks and where did the GameStop meme come from?

A CONFUSED Dionne Warwick asked on Twitter, "what are stonks and why is it a trending subject?"

The unusual word has cropped up repeatedly after speculative fever swept America's financial markets, spurred by online traders of Reddit's WallStreetBets group.

What are stonks?

'Stonks' is an intentional misspelling of “stocks” that originated with an internet meme.

Memes are ideas or concepts that spread through online sharing. These can be pictures, videos, or words and phrases.

In the case of 'stonks', the meme was a picture of a man in a suit, standing in front of many numbers, alongside a big, orange arrow.

It's subtitled 'stonks'.

But it cropped up a lot in January 2021, after online discussion board Reddit took on the stock market – and blitzed it with frenzied trading on struggling GameStop.

A famous Reddit group called r/WallStreetBets, that boasts some 4.7million members, urged people to buy and hold GameStop shares – punishing short sellers with soaring prices.

Their all-out assault on the "one-percenters hoarding the world's wealth" introduced many in the wider public – who don't dabble in shares – to slang, including the word 'stonks'.

When puzzled singer Dionne Warwick asked fans on Twitter: "What are stonks and why is it a trending subject", they rushed to help her.

"It's a joke way of saying stocks.

"Basically a bunch of people on the internet are bankrupting hedge funds after they tried to run GameStop out of business," explained one follower.

Another fan replied: "Retail investors (the little guys) are squeezing billions of dollars out of hedge funds by buying stocks that tanked."

Will Ruddock put it more simply: "It's a dumb way of saying 'stocks'."

And one Warwick fan responded: "It's what they called stocks on Reddit."

When was stonks first used?

According to Knowyourmeme, the slang word first cropped up on social media in 2017.

The website adds that Meme Man was shown "standing in front of a picture representing the stock market by the caption 'Stonks'.

"The picture began seeing use as a reaction image online in jokes about making poor financial decisions.

"On June 5th, 2017, Facebook page Special Meme posted the image of Meme Man in front of a stock photo representing the stock market, captioned 'Stonks'. The image gained over 3,600 likes and reactions."

Where did the GameStop meme come from?

The 'stonks' meme has become an emblem of the current GameStop trading frenzy.

Because of Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets – which prompted the shares stampede for the computer game retailer – 'stonks' has become a popular word in 2021.

This is due to it appearing in online discussion aimed at amplifying unlikely stocks for GameStop, Blackberry and cinema chain AMC Entertainment.

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