Memes dictionary
Nyan Cat
or Pop-Tart Cat [nee-an, nahy-an kat]
What does Nyan Cat mean?
Nyan Cat, or Pop-Tart Cat, refers to a cartoon cat with a Pop-Tart body and a rainbow behind it, flying through space, set to the tune of a Japanese pop song. The phrase itself can refer to the video, the cat, or the song that accompanies it, depending on the context.
Where does Nyan Cat come from?
The Nyan Cat video was first posted to YouTube on April 5, 2011. The original GIF came from artist Christopher Torresâs website. The name Pop Tart Cat comes from him, since thatâs what he originally called it. The animation itself is a piece of pixel art of a cat flying through space with a Pop-Tart body, followed by a trail of rainbows.
Nyan Cat emerged as this memeâs name only after the video, which paired the Japanese song âNyanyanyanyanyanyanya!â with the animation, emerged. YouTuber saraj00n was responsible for the combination. The lyrics of the song consist largely of the word nya or nyan, which is the Japanese onomatopoeia for a catâs meow. Presumably, this inspired the title of the video and the subsequent title of the meme.
Examples of Nyan Cat
Who uses Nyan Cat?
Nyan cat has become a meme thanks to the popularity of the video. Business Insider named it one of the top ten viral videos of April 2011. Itâs no wonder photographs of cats in rainbows, photoshopped images of kittens and Pop-Tarts, image macros, and remixes have abounded under the Nyan Cat name. Video games and merchandise have been made of Nyan Cat as well. References to the video, the song, and the animation of the cat itself can be made for humorous purposes.
The website nyan.cat plays the animation continuously, tracks the amount of time that the user has been on the site, and also features variants of the original Nyan Cat, including one with a taco body and another that flies a pirate flag instead of a rainbow behind it.
A popular variant of Nyan Cat is Fiesta Dog, which features a taco-bodied dog streaming taco ingredients and running to âMexican Hat Dance (Original Party Mix)â by Arriba brothers.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of Nyan Cat like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of Nyan Cat that will help our users expand their word mastery.