What Does "MonkaW" Mean on Twitch?

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What is MonkaW? And how does it differ from MonkaS? Your questions, answered

Co-authored by Candace Gasper and Luke Smith, MFA

Last Updated: April 3, 2024 Fact Checked

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MonkaW Meaning

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When and How to Use MonkaW

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Origin of MonkaW

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Related Emotes

The popular streaming website Twitch is a whirlwind of bizarre lingo and funky frogs, one of those frogs being the MonkaW emote. Emotes are like emoticons used to express a certain emotion–in this case, anxiety or fear. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about the MonkaW emote, including what it means, how (and when) to use it, where it came from, and similar emotes to roll out next time you’re watching your favorite streamer.

Quick MonkaW Explainer

MonkaW is an emote commonly used on the streaming site Twitch to express anxiety, fear, or tension. It features a frog character looking nervous and sweating. The emote was popularized by the streamer Monkasenpai, and is itself a variation on the emote MonkaS.

Section 1 of 4:

MonkaW Meaning

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MonkaW is a Twitch emote that expresses anxiety or tension. It’s widely used by audiences in Twitch streams when the streamer finds themself in a tense situation, whether that’s playing a difficult video game or telling a heart-pounding story. The emote features a close-up of Pepe the Frog (a common online character) with a nervous, intense look on his face. ^{[1]
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- The emote can also be used ironically to show an exaggerated response, or playful worry or fear about a situation.

Section 2 of 4:

When and How to Use MonkaW

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Install the FrankerFacez or BTTV plugins. If a streamer hasn’t added the MonkaW emote to their channel’s emote library, you won’t be able to use or see MonkaW in chat until you download either the FrankerFaceZ or BTTV plugins to your browser, which expand Twitch’s emote library. Simply click the “Download” button on the extensions’ homepages to install them.
- After, login to your selected extension’s homepage and authorize the extension’s access to your Twitch account when prompted.
- Without the extensions, you might still see the text “MonkaW” in chat, but it won’t appear as an emote.
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Use “monkaW” in Twitch chat when you’re concerned for a streamer. Maybe they’re in a tight spot in the game they’re playing, or maybe they just commented off-the-cuff that they haven’t slept in days. Type “MonkaW” to show your own anxiety or worry at their predicament, even if that worry is just humorous or ironic.
- Example: “Oh man, you almost lost your entire health bar there, MonkaW.”
- Some emotes are also available by clicking the smiley-face icon next to the chat box, or by configuring them as a keyboard shortcut in your Twitch account settings.
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Send your close friends the MonkaW emote via text. Twitch emotes are best used on Twitch, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them elsewhere. If your friends are streaming buffs, you might drop a “MonkaW” in your text messages or group chats to express your concern, anxiety, or fear there, as well.
- Example: “The bus is 10 minutes late and I have an important meeting at work today, MonkaW.”
- You might also download the emote image to your phone so that you can send it as a message, rather than just sending the plain text.

Section 3 of 4:

Origin of MonkaW

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MonkaW is a variant of the MonkaS emote. The MonkaS emote features Pepe the Frog with a worried look on his face and sweat dripping down his forehead, expressing much the same emotion as MonkaW–anxiety, worry, fear, etc. MonkaW, though, is that same image zoomed in, suggesting an even more intense form of these emotions.^{[2]
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- Pepe the Frog is himself a creation of comic artist Matt Furie, and originated in the strip “Boy’s Club,” after which Pepe was lifted and remixed by countless internet users.^{[3]
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The MonkaS image originated on 4chan and spread to Twitch. The image of a nervously sweating Pepe the Frog first appeared on the somewhat notorious message board 4chan in 2011, where it gained popularity and spread to other sites. In 2016, Twitch user Monkasenpai (for whom the emote is named–short for “monkascared”) uploaded it to the Better Twitch TV extension for use on the streaming site.^{[4]
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- MonkaS was popularized by the streamer Forsen. Then, Twitch user DourGent uploaded a zoomed-in version, MonkaW.
- The “W” at the end of “MonkaW” is a commonly used emote suffix that indicates it’s a zoomed-in version of another emote.

Section 4 of 4:

Related Emotes

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Sadge Sadge depicts Pepe the Frog as downcast and glum, and is used during Twitch streams to express sadness, disappointment, or other dampened emotions.^{[5]
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- Example: “I just remembered I have to wake up early for work tomorrow, :Sadge:.”
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FeelsGoodMan & FeelsBadMan These are variations of Pepe the Frog that feature the character smiling and frowning, respectively. “FeelsGoodMan” is used to express satisfaction, while “FeelsBadMan” is used to express disappointment.^{[6]
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- Example: “Just got takeout and they gave me a free drink, :FeelsGoodMan:.”
- Example: “The restaurant forgot to hold the pickles on my burger, :FeelsBadMan:.”
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Poggers “Poggers” is an emote that shows Pepe with his mouth wide open in awe or excitement, and is used to celebrate when something unexpected or positive happens.^{[7]
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- Example: “I just got a partial refund since they messed up my order, :Poggers:.”
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PepeHands This emote features Pepe looking distraught while raising his open hands, and is used to show that something is particularly sad or upsetting.^{[8]
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- Example: “I just dropped my entire dinner on the floor, :PepeHands:.”