About

Waos is an expression created by a 2020 Facebook meme in which the English expression "wow" is purposely written wrong as "waos." The word became a popular slang term in the online Spanish-speaking community after a TikTok video narrating the meme went viral on September 2022.

Origin

On October 29th, 2020, Facebook^[1] user @domifauxking uploaded a skeleton meme joking about the popular Spanish saying "El ingles abre puertas" (English open doors). After the skeleton is able to open the door by asking "pli open," the other skeleton says "waos" in surprise, which should actually be "wow," but the words were purposely written in the wrong grammar. The post (seen below) garnered 795 likes and 5,000 shares in three years.

Spread

On September 20th, 2022, TikTok^[2] user @shit.postink24 posted a video (seen below, left) reading the skeleton meme posted on Facebook, garnering 1.2 million plays and 264,200 likes in one year. His narration of the meme inspired other creators to use his audio for comedy skit content on the platform. For instance, on October 11th, 2022, TikTok^[3] user @vxskyy0 uploaded a fan-made animation (seen below, right) using @shit.postink24's audio, receiving 37,200 plays and 11,200 likes in a year.

Waos Image Macros

The viral audio of the "waos" expression was later combined with an image macro of a puppy by TikTok^[4] user @el_waos_cuenta_oficial on January 10th, 2023. The video (seen below, left) received 13,800 plays and 1,300 likes in four months. The slang was also aligned with Kazuya Guy doing the Chad Face. For example, on March 1st, 2023, TikTok^[5] user @deadpoolxd2002_ge posted an edited video (seen below, right) combining the Kazuya Guy's facial expressions with the overlay text "waos," receiving 6,700 plays and 202 likes in one month.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References