Stonks

STONKS.

On June 5, 2017, the Facebook page "Special Meme Fresh" posted an image that would define a generation's relationship with financial literacy. It showed Meme Man—a deliberately low-quality 3D-rendered head—standing before a stock market chart, the word "STONKS" emblazoned above. The post gathered over 3,600 likes.

Meme Man had been lurking in the surreal meme underground for years, a creation of early-2010s internet weirdness. But "Stonks" gave him a purpose: the embodiment of making terrible financial decisions and feeling like a genius about it.

The format spawned an entire vocabulary. "Shef" for cooking disasters. "Tehc" for tech mishaps. "Helth" for questionable health choices. All accompanied by Meme Man's expressionless face and intentionally misspelled words.

But Stonks achieved transcendence in 2021, when it was adopted by r/WallStreetBets during the GameStop short squeeze. Suddenly, "stonks" wasn't just a meme—it was a battle cry. Retail investors buying AMC and GME used the format to celebrate their chaotic assault on hedge funds. Meme Man became the face of financial revolution, or financial recklessness, depending on who you asked.

The meme captured something true about modern investing: the irrational confidence, the YOLO energy, the willingness to make monumentally stupid decisions and call it strategy. We are all Meme Man. We are all staring at lines going up, assuming we're geniuses.

Stonks faded as the meme stock craze cooled, but its spirit lives on wherever someone makes a questionable purchase and feels good about it.

Not stonks? Sometimes. But the vibe? Eternal.