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What Is A 'Quaso?'
Some words sound exactly like what they mean: moist, cranky, crunch… croissant. On TikTok, the word "croissant," and one wonderful mispronunciation of it, has picked up steam as a meme. But where did "quaso," the most iconic meme of French cuisine, come from?
Where Does 'Quaso' Come From?
The croissant, which originated in the late 1800s, is the French version of the Austrian kipfel pastry, which adds a series of buttery folds to the crescent-shaped bread. "Quaso" was an enthusiastic pronunciation of "croissant" by TikToker @niclas.pb, who duetted a video of another TikToker making a croissant by adding in his own enthusiastic "quaso!" several times. This happened on November 30th, 2022.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7171845432052567301
The sound effect really took off in December, finding use in many different contexts, many of which had little or nothing to do with pastries.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7177295260802960646
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7177550535858425094
How Do You Post 'Quaso'?
Often, "quaso" will be posted as a duet with somebody talking about croissants in a more conventional way. For example, "quaso" is often paired with a pretty normal dialogue about a hungry person going to buy a croissant in the morning.
QUASO 🥐#LeagueOfLegends #fiora #vayne #creadoresdelollatam pic.twitter.com/84w3cr9ikG
— leochamposa (COMMISSIONS OPEN) (@leochamposa) December 19, 2022
How Does 'Quaso' Relate To Other Memes?
"Quaso" fits into a broader group of TikTok memes that focus on funny mispronunciations. Like wenomechainsama, this meme turns a familiar word into a goofy noise effect. It's kind of surreal, in that it finds fun in deranged language.
The croissant as a food has also been the subject of many other memes over the years likely because of its funny sound, shape and Frenchness.
But "quaso" is likely the most memorable, or at least the weirdest, croissant meme of the past few years.
For the full details on quaso be sure to check out our entry on the meme.