Meaning
What does YEP mean?
YEP is the name of an emote often shared on live streaming platform Twitch.
The emote is just an old image of “Pepe the Frog”, the well known meme template featuring a green eyed creature, supposed to depict a frog, showing an emotion – usually smiling, smirking or sad.
Pepe the Frog in the YEP emote shows a trivial smile, the type you would normally give an acquaintance you are passing by but don’t want to stop and talk to.
The emote is mainly shared out of the blue, with no context. Many use it as spam to troll the streamer or the viewers.
“YEP” Pepe is supposed to depict how all the viewers currently look while watching the screen.
Origin
What's the origin of YEP?
Pepe the Frog originates from a comic created by Matt Furie, and dates all the way back to 2005. One of the first places it appeared was MySpace, and is considered a classic.
The particular Pepe used as the “YEP” emote was first seen 8 years later, in 2013, on a Traditional Games board on 4chan.
It took another 6 years for the emote to reach Twitch, and the lucky streamer to receive it first was FrankerFaceZ, and the user who submitted it was yaYEET_xD, in 2019.
Spread & Usage
How did YEP spread?
After yaYEET_xD set the path, the emote was spread like a pest to other Twitch rooms, and users found great joy in using it to troll.
When all viewers are into it, the chat room is flooded with green, smiling Pepe the Frog’s.
After a massive spam of “YEP” on xQcOW’s Twitch channel, a redditor petitioned to get the emote banned, only to receive a bunch of “YEP” comments before he deleted his Reddit account.
The emote has shown traces on other platforms as well, such as a few Twitter posts, but not nearly as significant as you see them on Twitch.
External resources
- Know Your Meme – YEP