Stonks is an Internet meme and humorous slang term for “stocks,” or shares of a company bought, sold, and traded as an investment. It is used in several ways: to make fun of financial incompetence or ignorance, in reference to viral meme stocks, or to characterize misguided efforts or comical mistakes.
youtube learned that i will happily sit and watch highlight compilations of tennis matches for hours on end / productivity: not stonks
—@geesawra.industries, Bluesky, 19 Nov. 2024
how do you invest or like do stonks
—I just did the same thing. Sold all my stonks and went all in on BTC [Bitcoin].
—… CLNE stock has actually been one of the most mentioned stocks on this Reddit forum of late. And various sites point to Clean Energy as one of the “stonks” to buy right now …
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Stonks is an intentional misspelling of “stocks.” It joins many other cases of Internet slang (such as smol or thicc) where words are deliberately misspelled or modified for various reasons, such as for tone, irony, convenience, and group identification. Stonks may be specifically influenced by chonky, Internet slang for an adorably “chunky” animal.
The term originated in 2017 as part of a meme, featuring the word stonks next to a surreal-looking, humanoid character (known as “Meme Man”) in a business suit standing before a stock board with a growth arrow. Early uses of the term and meme on social media poked fun of poor financial decisions or limited understanding of money matters.
Stonks spread in a roguish community of day traders, active on a Reddit group called r/wallstreetbets, known for instigating speculation on so-called meme stocks. A meme stock is a stock, especially one of a company considered on the wane, that some traders bet against, or sell short; in response, other traders try to manipulate that position, prompting a sudden surge in the stock’s popularity and price. In January 2021, traders associated with r/wallstreetbets were credited with triggering a surge in the value of shares of a video game retailer (Gamestop). Stonks gained mainstream attention during this viral financial episode, called a ‘short squeeze,’ particularly after such prominent figures as Elon Musk referenced the term in commentary on it.
The singular of stonks is stonk, although the term most commonly appears in the plural. Occasionally, it is used attributively, as in ‘stonk market.’ Especially in informal finance contexts online, stonks is used to mean “stocks,” and can be either earnest or flippant in tone and intent.
More commonly, stonks is used in ironic jokes about a financial loss, miscalculation, or other such misdealing, and, by extension, about amusing ineptitude or an embarrassing failure more generally. In this way, it is often found on its own or as part of a meme in a direct reply or comment online. It also commonly appears in variations on the original term and meme, including “no stonks” (for losses, failures, etc.) and “stonks only go up” (mocking incomprehension of market volatility, the inevitability of change, etc.). Some uses of stonks specifically critique capitalism or mock Internet day traders and their subculture.
