WallStreetBets Slang and Memes

Created in 2012, the Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets saw a surge in growth in early 2021 as the subreddit became the face of the incredible upward surge of heavily-shorted companies like Gamestop and AMC Entertainment. Described as a cross between 4chan and the Bloomberg terminal, the forum has over 8 million members, hundreds of thousands of whom are active on the page at a time.

In contrast to other investing and stock market sites, WallStreetBets is well known for its freewheeling atmosphere, where memes fly frequently. The language and slang may seem confusing at first and can intimidate new users. Before venturing onto WallStreetBets yourself, make sure you are aware of these common refrains, phrases, and memes.

Apes Together Strong

Sometimes represented by a gorilla emoji, the saying is derived from an earlier meme based on the movie Rise of Planet of the Apes. When used by WallStreetBets, the apes are retail investors who are bullish on heavily-shorted stocks like GameStop. If the “apes” are united, then they can be strong enough to outlast those short on the stock.

Bears

A bear investor who thinks a security or the market will decrease in value. Not well-liked among many users. 

Buy High Sell Low

A joke used when a user posts losses on the forum. If an investor lost money on a trade, they were said to have bought high and sold low. A play on the all too obvious financial advice to buy low and sell high.

Buy the Dip

For users bullish on a stock, a price drop is simply an opportunity to “buy the dip.” When paired with “diamond hands” and “to the moon,” the three can become a potent combination of memes.

Diamond Hands

Continuing to hold a stock despite losses, adversity, and volatility, confident that the price will increase. The phrase is represented by a combination of diamond and hand emojis. When GameStop shares traded wildly, calls for users to have “diamond hands” filled the forum.

Hold the Line

A battle cry for users during volatility in the markets. When stocks favored by the forum began to drop, appeals to “hold the line” became common. Often seen in conjunction with “diamond hands” and “to the moon.”

Paper Hands

The opposite of diamond hands, paper hands are when a user sells their shares at the first sign of a downward trend. Used in a derogatory manner toward those who are not fully committed to a position.

Tendies

Money or profit. When a stock goes up, the investor has acquired tendies. If the stock goes down, then the investor has lost tendies.

To the Moon

Usually accompanied by a plethora of rocket emojis, the phrase is used to express confidence in the performance of a chosen stock. When a stock goes “to the moon,” the user has earned more tendies. Companies that are or were going to the moon include GameStop (GME), AMC Entertainment (AMC), Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Tesla (TSLA), and BlackBerry (BB).

We Like the Stock

Originally attributed to CNBC television personality Jim Cramer, “we like the stock” is used to justify why users hold large positions in stocks like AMC and GameStop. 

YOLO

You only live once. A YOLO trade is one that makes up the vast majority of the value in an investor’s account. Putting $100 into GameStop is not a YOLO, but $100,000 is. For example, one prominent trader on WallStreetBets invested over $750,000 in GameStop. At one point the position was worth millions of dollars.