What Does 'Onika Burger' Mean? The Nicki Minaj Meme Explained

Stan Twitter lingo is often as cryptic as it is silly, and of the hundreds of different factions you could root for, the Nicki Minaj fandom is undeniably one of the most prolific of the bunch.

In recent weeks you might have seen the phrase "Onika Burgers" floating around, sometimes accompanied by a picture of Nicki Minaj, but this strange joke is not easy to understand without a bit of internet history. Here's the lore behind she=Onika ate=burger the viral and absurd meme taking over stan Twitter.

What Does 'Onika Burger' Mean?

On Valentine's Day 2023, pop culture reporter Pop Base tweeted a picture of a drawing made by Kim Kardashian and Ye's daughter North West of her grandmother Kris Jenner. One of many replies to the tweet was someone commending North's skills by saying, "Why she ate."

Another Twitter user took this opportunity to shoehorn in their hate for Nicki Minaj by replying with a nearly nonsensical tweet that read, "she=onika ate=burger." Onika is Nicki Minaj's birth name, and the person probably wanted to fat-shame Nicki Minaj by saying she eats burgers. However, their paltry attempt is best translated as "why Onika burgers," resulting in hilarity.

How Did The 'Onika Burger' Meme Spread?

Someone screenshotted the interaction above and shared it on their own Twitter page. The tweet almost read like a complex algebraic problem: "If in 'why she ate;' 'she=onika' and 'ate=burger,' would the result be 'Onika ate burgers' Or would it be 'Why Onika burger.?'" The question had stans across Twitter rolling on the floor trying to decipher what the tweeter could possibly have meant.

Why Did 'Onika Burger' Go Viral?

The absurdity of inserting Nicki hate into an irrelevant discussion about a child's rudimentary drawing skills, coupled with the inherent cryptic nature of the comment itself, made the whole tweet incredibly funny. Knowledge of what Onika Burger means indicated one's familiarity with niche Twitter discourse and stan culture, as well as one's willingness to engage with something as silly as nonsensical playground humor.

onika at the burgers store pic.twitter.com/kc7GiA7H4Y

— o ❦ (@transientheory) February 18, 2023

what = onika
you = eat
do = burgers
? = . https://t.co/jihj4CgCJ7

— ryxn (@itzryxxn) February 19, 2023

For the full history of "Onika burger," be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.