What Does 'o7' Mean? The Emoticon Turned Twitch Emote Explained

Depending on how long you've been online, it's possible that you've seen someone use an emoticon before. These "emotion icons," a precursor to emotes and emojis, were made up of characters on the keyboard to denote how one feels in any given context, like this :)

But today we're not here to talk about the simple smiley face, but rather, "o7," and if you're unfamiliar with that one, we've got you covered on what the slang expression means.

Where Does 'o7' Come From?

The emoticon known as "o7" actually got its start way before the era of Twitch emotes and word replacement. When people first began getting connected online and sending messages to each other, o7 started to see usage as a singular person doing a salute, sometimes as a sign-off.

The simple emoticon has also been widely used in numerous gaming communities over the years, especially in sci-fi games where one plays the role of a captain, such as Elite Dangerous or Star Citizen in which players use it similar to saluting in the military. Thanks to its popularization, it's also become the subject of various memes and songs.

How Do You Use 'o7'?

The best way for o7 to be used is in its original context, as a way to salute someone in a comment or as a standalone reply. This is often done in spaces such as Twitch Chat where you can either type the o7 in solidarity with something happening on stream or use one of the multiple saluting emotes that have become popular on the platform.

Usually, in the case of livestreaming, the streamer will say the phrase "oh 7" to initiate the torrent of o7 spam that will hit the chat.

How Is 'o7' Related To Memes Like 'Press F To Pay Respects'?

A similar meme, Press F To Pay Respects, was also used a lot before the wider adoption of o7.

A callback from a scene in Call of Duty, the phrase was first mocked before being integrated into online meme culture, which can be seen by people either saying "F" or "o7" and saluting whenever something or someone meaningful to internet culture dies.

For the full history of o7, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.