![Oshiete yo! Tokyo Ghoul Began Serialization On This Day 13 Years Ago Oshiete yo! Tokyo Ghoul Began Serialization On This Day 13 Years Ago](https://i.kym-cdn.com/featured_items/icons/wide/000/025/821/d5a.png)
![What's The Deal With 'Stonks'? Meme Man next to a stonk chart.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/editorials/icons/mobile/000/004/980/stonks-explainer.jpg)
What's The Deal With 'Stonks'?
If you were to transport a caveman or ancient Roman to modern times and try to explain things to him, it's likely that one of the most difficult things to translate would be the stock market. Or, as people put it in memes, the stonks.
Even most people living today don't understand stonks, and for good reason: they are extremely complicated and purposefully so. The system which runs the world economy and plays a part in all of our lives makes very little sense. You might say it's a kind of surreal situation. Stonks, a surreal meme, has stepped in to describe the way they make us all feel.
![Got like 40 years to worry about that When your job gives you a matching 401k but you don't understand what that means 560 .286 0168 %o D.9% 0.12% 14563 2.286 156 0287 WAStonks AOM 0.1204 0.234 0.1902 02 213 N/A](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/509/343/987.jpg)
What Are Stonks?
A stonk is a share in a company purchased on a public exchange. People and institutions purchase stonks in order to speculate, betting they can sell their stonks later on for more money than they originally paid. Through various intricate processes, people also bet against stonks, bundle stonks together, and attempt to manipulate stonk prices.
![Business Hello kind sir Would you like to work for my business What business 560 286 A .9% O.12% 0168 2.286 14563 156 0287 uStonks Y0.1204 .234 0.1902 NA Read 7:43 PM Yes](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/499/832/75c.jpg)
"Stonk" is an intentional misspelling of "stock." Often, the word is used to express both ignorance of how stocks work and a distaste for stocks and the stock market in general. Many surreal memes use intentional misspellings to make familiar language unfamiliar and weird, making users question the world around them.
Where Did 'Stonks' Come From?
The first post using the intentional misspelling of "Stonks" paired the word with a clip art-esque graphic representing a financial chart and Meme Man, the protagonist of many surreal memes. It was posted on Facebook on June 5th, 2017.
![STONKS Template 560 .286 9% 0.12% 2.286 14563 \156 0287 WAStonks A0M 0.1204 0.234 0.1902 02 .213 NA](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/499/826/2f0.png)
The inclusion of Meme Man brings stonks into the surreal memes tradition: the meme intends to confuse you as much as to entertain you. Seeing a stonks post, you might ask yourself, "why would somebody make this?" And there is no good answer, which is why people find it funny.
![Stonks Please don't do this I seriously can't live without you I didn't cheat on you 560 286 0468 2.286 14563 .12% 156 0287 WAStonks 2400M 0.1204 0.234 0.1902 NA @heckoffsupreme I didn't mean to send that.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/499/837/0ea.jpg)
Why Do People Post About Stonks?
But maybe the real question isn't "why would somebody make a stonks meme?" but "why would somebody make a stock market?"
![Insta heckoffsupreme What is your job title exactly? @heckoffsupreme .286 2.286 14563 156 0287 WAStonks 0.12% 2,037 likes heckoffsupreme Domp Jones to be specific](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/499/839/339.jpg)
The baffled response which "stonks" inspires may make you wonder why you don't have the same baffled response to "stocks." The stock market is a pretty surreal thing: these days, it's mostly run by computers and seems increasingly disconnected from the real economy. The people running the stock market, like Meme Man, present themselves as anonymous, well-dressed and authoritative.
![Really Not Stonks wwreally not stonks 7635 797.7 1474 7174. 080. 39.05 16 2.9 11444 326.2 1529 23 0.85% 0.39%](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/130/917/d0f.png)
Humor — even seemingly surreal, bizarre humor — is often grounded in reality, and the stonks meme seems to be an example. A lot of people don't like the stock market, finding the entire thing pretty annoying. The most famous example of the often-hostile relationship between the stock market and memes is /r/WallStreetBets, which uses the word "stonk" pretty frequently. The use of the word "stonks" tries to strip Wall Street of some of its prestige. It is a little act of resistance by posters online.
![Wolf of Wall Street Shoe Revive @TheShoeRevive HOE REVIV Watches Wolf of Wall Street once 560 (286 0168 .9% 0.12% 2.286 14563 156 0287 WAStonks A00 0.1204 0.234 0.1902 02 8213 N/A](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/499/853/655.jpg)
For the full details on stonks, be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.
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