Ligma joke

The Ligma joke first gained popularity online in July 2018.

"Ligma" sounds similar to the words "lick my", and became a
sophomoric Internet meme to set up a crude joke.[1] When
someone unfamiliar with the term is prompted to ask "What's
ligma?", the punchline is to respond with "Ligma balls", "Ligma
nuts", "Ligma butt" or something similar.[2][3][4]

Derivation and bofa meme

The Verge reported in July 2018 that ligma "is the new bofa", a Ligma joke via text message
pun on "both of".[5] In a conversation, the speaker might set up the
joke by saying, "I went to this great Italian restaurant last week,
and they make great bofa", to prompt the question, "What's bofa?" to which the response is, "Bofa deez
nuts!". According to Dictionary.com, "It's seen as a sign of good humor if the person who has been bofa 'd
laughs, shrugs it off, or bofas someone themselves."[6]

Josh Kastowitz of The Daily Dot connected both ligma and bofa jokes to older crude humor with "deez
nuts" (these nuts) as its punchline.[1] Brady Olson, who made a satirical 2016 presidential run under the
pseudonym "Deez Nuts", confirmed to Rolling Stone that he chose it based on the bofa meme.[7]

Notable instances

Twitch death hoax

"Ligma" was the fictional disease jokingly rumored to have killed the popular video game streamer Ninja
in July 2018.[1][8][5]

Ligma–Johnson hoax
In October 2022, two amateur improvisational actors played a media prank, pretending to be newly fired
Twitter employees "Rahul Ligma" and "Daniel Johnson" on the eve of Elon Musk's takeover of the
company, and multiple major media outlets reported the incident as actual news. The Times of India
called the Ligma–Johnson hoax "perfectly-timed" and "one of the greatest pranks on the Internet."[9]
In a December 2022 article for TechCrunch reflecting on the absurd nature of tech industry news over the
past year, Amanda Silberling commented that because "a herd of reporters did not get the joke" about
Rahul Ligma, she had to explain the "ligma" meme on four different podcasts.[10]

Other instances
In August 2018, Microsoft began receiving complaints about the Xbox gamertags "Ligma" and
"MrsLigma" and renamed them. The owner of the "Ligma" tag told Eurogamer, "I just made the word up,
anyone else can/could too! But, it's pretty uncool when Xbox/Microsoft can use any new meme to destroy
a gamertag that's 12+ years old."[11] After there was a groundswell of support on Reddit for the
disaffected gamer, his "Ligma" tag was reinstated.[11]

In October 2018, fact-checking website Snopes debunked false reports that rapper Machine Gun Kelly
had died from a "Ligma overdose".[12]

In July 2021, the Lead Stories fact-checking website confirmed that "Ligma" was not a new variant of the
COVID-19 virus, but it was the latest version of "an old dirty joke".[2]

After the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman fell for the joke, in an image that
was widely circulated online.[13]

Other variants
"Sugondese" (pronounced similarly to "suck on these", often in combination with "balls" or
"nuts").[14]
"Grabahan" (pronounced similarly to "grab a hand", with the punchline "full of deez
nuts").[15]
"Sugma" (pronounced similarly to "suck my", most commonly in combination with "balls").[15]

References
1. Katzowitz, Josh (2018-07-23). "Fortnite star Ninja at the center of a death hoax involving a
fake disease called Ligma" (https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/ninja-what-is-ligma/). The
Daily Dot. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20221122203625/https://www.dailydot.co
m/upstream/ninja-what-is-ligma/) from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
2. Miller, Dean (2021-07-28). "Fact Check: There Is NO COVID 'Ligma' Variant Outbreak -- It's
An Old Dirty Joke | Lead Stories" (https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2021/07/fact-check-ther
e-is-no-ligma-variant-of-covid19.html). Lead Stories. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0231012203134/https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2021/07/fact-check-there-is-no-ligma-vari
ant-of-covid19.html) from the original on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
3. "ligma Meaning | Pop Culture by Dictionary.com" (https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/li
gma/). Dictionary.com. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20221116063814/https://www.
dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/ligma/) from the original on 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
4. Heath, Alex (2022-10-28). "People are pretending to be laid-off Twitter employees carrying
boxes outside of HQ" (https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/28/23428775/twitter-fake-employe
e-layoff-rahul-ligma-elon-musk). The Verge. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2022120
1114208/https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/28/23428775/twitter-fake-employee-layoff-rahul
-ligma-elon-musk) from the original on 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
 5. Hernandez, Patricia (2018-07-23). "After making up a Twitch death hoax, the Internet can't
stop joking about 'Ligma' " (https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/23/17602822/ligma-ninja-twitc
h-death-hoax). The Verge. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20231021081504/https://w
ww.theverge.com/2018/7/23/17602822/ligma-ninja-twitch-death-hoax) from the original on
2023-10-21. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
6. "bofa Meaning & Origin" (https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/bofa/). Dictionary.com. 2018-
03-01. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20231016003043/https://www.dictionary.com/
e/slang/bofa/) from the original on 2023-10-16. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
7. Dickinson, Tim (August 20, 2015). "Meet 'Deez Nuts,' the Teen Presidential Candidate
Punking America" (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/meet-deez-nuts-the-teen-presi
dential-candidate-punking-america-20150819). Rolling Stone. Archived (https://web.archive.
org/web/20150820214355/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/meet-deez-nuts-the-tee
n-presidential-candidate-punking-america-20150819) from the original on August 20, 2015.
Retrieved August 20, 2015. "Q: I'm assuming you take your political name from the Bofa
meme? A: Yeah"
8. Girn, Jasmine. "What Is "Ligma" And Why Is Everyone Talking About It - Narcity" (https://ww
w.narcity.com/what-is-ligma-and-why-is-everyone-talking-about-it). www.narcity.com.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20231216032925/https://www.narcity.com/what-is-lig
ma-and-why-is-everyone-talking-about-it) from the original on 2023-12-16. Retrieved
2023-10-16.
9. Jakhwal, Sejal (2022-11-16). "Rahul Ligma, Daniel Johnson Re-Hired, Twitter Boss Elon
Musk Says Firing Them Was 'My Biggest Mistake' " (https://web.archive.org/web/202211221
83642/https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/rahul-ligma-daniel-johnson-re-hired-twitter-bo
ss-elon-musk-says-firing-them-was-my-biggest-mistake/ar-AA14aghS). The India Times.
Archived from the original (https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/rahul-ligma-daniel-johnso
n-re-hired-twitter-boss-elon-musk-says-firing-them-was-my-biggest-mistake/ar-AA14aghS)
on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
10. Silberling, Amanda (December 24, 2022). "This year in tech felt like a simulation" (https://tec
hcrunch.com/2022/12/24/this-year-in-tech-felt-like-a-simulation/). TechCrunch. Archived (htt
ps://archive.today/20240831061255/https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/24/this-year-in-tech-felt
-like-a-simulation/) from the original on 2024-08-31. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
11. "Xbox fan says ligma meme destroyed his 12-year-old gamertag" (https://www.eurogamer.n
et/xbox-fan-says-ligma-meme-destroyed-his-12-year-old-gamertag). Eurogamer.net. 2018-
08-25. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20231023183433/https://www.eurogamer.net/x
box-fan-says-ligma-meme-destroyed-his-12-year-old-gamertag) from the original on 2023-
10-23. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
12. Mikkelson, David (2018-10-15). "Machine Gun Kelly Death Hoax" (https://www.snopes.com/f
act-check/machine-gun-kelly-death-hoax/). Snopes. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0240831062844/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/machine-gun-kelly-death-hoax/) from
the original on 2024-08-31. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
13. Kim, Eddie (2021-09-10). "A Taliban Memelord Is Winning the Hearts of the American Alt-
Right" (https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/malang-khostay-twitter). MEL Magazine.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20231212155210/https://melmagazine.com/en-us/sto
ry/malang-khostay-twitter) from the original on 2023-12-12. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
14. "Sugondese – Meaning, Origin and Usage" (https://english-grammar-lessons.com/sugondes
e-meaning/). English-Grammar-Lessons.com. 2022-08-30. Archived (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20240831062845/https://english-grammar-lessons.com/sugondese-meaning/) from
the original on 2024-08-31. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
15. "ligma Meaning | Pop Culture by Dictionary.com" (https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/li
gma/). Dictionary.com. 2019-07-16. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2023100613225
0/https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/ligma/) from the original on 2023-10-06.
Retrieved 2023-10-28.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ligma_joke&oldid=1246217521"