awesomesauce

Awesomesauce is a playful slang expression for “something spectacular” or “excellent.”

Awesomesauce apparently originated, or at least was popularized by, the Flash-based internet cartoon Homestar Runner. In the 2003 episode “Strong Bad Email #75,” the character Strong Bad says, “Well, aren’t you gonna go get your 409 or Awesome Sauce or whatever you’re gonna clean this up with?” Awesome Sauce, in the episode, refers to an imaginary brand name of a cleaning product for tending to some ketchup that spilled all over a computer. The term may riff on weaksauce, evidenced in 2002 as slang for something unfunny or “lame.”

Awesome Sauce spread on the internet, and by the 2010s, evolved into awesomesauce, a noun, adjective, or interjection characterizing something as “very good.” Awesomesauce was used frequently in popular culture. It memorably appeared on a 2001 episode of the sitcom Parks and Recreation when the lovable goof, Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), says “That’s awesomesauce” when his girlfriend tells him she loves him. Other instances of awesomesauce include a 2013 commercial for Discover credit cards and a mayonnaise spread made by JUST foods. Comedian Stephen Colbert also notably said awesomesauce on his satire, The Colbert Report, in 2013, often used as a GIF.

Like many internet phrases, awesomesauce quickly rose and fell due to overuse, and it is sometimes even regarded as annoying or immature to say now. Interest in the phrase, however, rose anew in October 2017 when fast-food chain Wendy’s announced chicken tenders with new (and doubly punny) S’Awesome sauce.

As noted, awesomesauce is colloquially used in speech and writing as an intensive and expressive modifier for “excellent” (The food here is awesomesauce) or interjection conveying surprise or admiration (You got a promotion?! Awesomesauce!)

Sometimes, awesomesauce is punningly used to describe something so incredible that it’s said to be drenched or marinated in awesomesauce, illustrating that awesomesauce also enjoys use as a noun meaning “greatness” or “a great thing.”

As apparently modeled on awesomesauce (and its negative antecedent, weaksauce), sauce has become a combining form, featured in other positive slang expressions such as winsauce, dopesauce, and YOLOsauce.

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.