thicc

Dating back to the 1990s, thick is black slang describing a sexually attractive woman, usually voluptuous or curvaceous. By the early 2000s, the slang was being deliberately misspelled online as thicc, like phat for fat.

Thanks to the popularity of black youth culture and hip-hop, thicc spread into the mainstream around 2015. The term, used as a compliment, was boosted by the success of full-figured celebrities like Kim Kardashian and the rise of the body positivity movement.

In the mid-2010s, thicc, as is inevitable online, inspired comedy, when people began describing fictional characters as thicc, such as the  round-bottomed creature Bubble Bass from SpongeBob SquarePants.

bubble bass lowkey thicc as hell😩 pic.twitter.com/rgRlArSjn2

— one of ur hoes (@miliondollameat) October 22, 2015

Also in 2015, YouTuber Anthony Fantano created videos of him making what he called thicc smoothies, using the slang to describe his concoctions as sexy and filling as well as punning on their texture.

Unlikely comparisons prompted more thicc memes in 2016–17. One is Extra Thicc, inspired by a character from the 2001 cartoon Samuari Jack ordering “extra thick” henchmen. Internet users posted their Extra Thicc cartoon remixes on YouTube and social media.

TV tropes

Another meme, from 2017, is One Thicc Bih (bih, a rendering of bitch), a description first applied to Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants as well as the Super Mario Bros., Winnie the Pooh, and even former FBI Director James Comey. The meme uses some wordplay on vulgar slang for female genitalia.