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Cheems

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  • Balltze
  • 波子
Photograph of Balltze taken in 2017, used in the Cheems meme since 2019
SpeciesCanis familiaris
BreedShiba Inu
SexMale
Born(2011-01-09)9 January 2011
Hong Kong
Died18 August 2023(2023-08-18) (aged 12)
Hong Kong
Cause of deathCancer
Years active2019–2023
Known forInternet celebrity
OwnerKathy
ResidenceKowloon, Hong Kong
Named afterRamune
Chinese name
Chinese波子[1]
Literal meaningSmall ball
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinBōzǐ
Wade–GilesPo-tzu
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationBō-jí
JyutpingBo1-zi2

Balltze (Chinese: 波子, 9 January 2011 – 18 August 2023), nicknamed Cheems in online memes, was a famous Shiba Inu from Hong Kong. He was called Ball Ball by his owners.

Biography

Balltze was born on 9 January 2011.[2] He was adopted at the age of one from an emigrating friend,[3] by fashion designer Kathy from Kowloon.[4] Kathy's brother named him after Ramune, a Japanese beverage in which a marble ball inside the bottle is pressed down to let the drink flow.[4] He was known as Ball Ball by his owners.[5]

In May 2022, Balltze was diagnosed with pancreatitis.[6] He recovered in June.[7] In May 2023, his owners reported that he had serious respiratory problems.[8] He had cancer and was undergoing thoracentesis (the draining of fluid from his chest) when he died on 18 August 2023, aged 12.[9] In a 2020 interview with Know Your Meme, Kathy said that Balltze wanted his legacy to be "Meme fade, [fellow Shiba Inu meme] Doge is eternal. Remember me as 'Balltze', not 'Cheems' or 'cheemsburger', I'm just a Balltze".[4]

Memes

Cheems portrayed at an LGBT march in Wrocław, Poland. Note that równość (equality) is spelt rómwność

Balltze appears as the Internet meme character Cheems, whose name comes from his taste for "cheemsburgers" [sic]. The character adds the letter "m" into words as he speaks.[6] The meme was first posted to the r/dogelore subreddit on Reddit in June 2019.[4] The image used for the meme was uploaded originally on Balltze's Instagram account in 2017, and shows him sitting on the floor.[5]

Cheems also features in the "Swole Doge vs Cheems" meme in which a muscular version of Doge represents something considered better in the past, and Cheems represents its current, lesser state.[5] The meme became viral in mid-2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11] In another meme format, Godzilla and King Kong represent two competing concepts, while Cheems armed with a baseball bat is the winning third concept, chasing the other two away.[12]

In 2020, another meme circulated, in which Cheems hits another dog with a baseball bat causing the onomatopoeia "bonk", while saying "go to horny jail"; the meme is posted in response to sexually suggestive messages.[5] The Guardian journalist Caleb Quinley noted this image in protests against the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.[13]

Cheems appeared in several other memes in the Spanish-speaking world, including saying "no puede ser" ("It cannot be") and "me da amsiedad" ("It gives me amxiety" [sic]).[14][15] In 2021, Spain's public broadcaster RTVE wrote "What is clear is that a meme is worth more than a thousand words and Cheems and Doge now form part of Internet popular culture, reinventing themselves constantly to brighten our days or put us in our places".[5] Balltze's owner Kathy's favourite Cheems meme was one in Spanish, in which he takes a bath and says "Could you carry on scrolling? It's just that I'm taking a bamth [sic]".[4]

Kathy initially did not understand the Cheems memes for their absurdist nature. She later signed deals with a management company and an American toy company, as well as making T-shirts which benefitted local canine charities.[4]

Cheems inspired cryptocurrency such as Cheems Inu and Cheemscoin. Parth Dubey of the International Business Times wrote that they were part of "a number of wannabe dog-themed coins" competing against Dogecoin and the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "經典Meme香港柴犬「波子」逝世 主人冀續為網民帶來歡樂 (16:07)" [The owner of the deceased classic Meme Shiba Inu "Balltze" from Hong Kong hopes to continue to bring joy to netizens (16:07)]. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 20 August 2023. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Balltze, PERRO conocido como "Cheems" en los MEMES, cumple 10 años: VIDEO" [Balltze, DOG known as "Cheems" in MEMES, turns 10: VIDEO]. El Heraldo de México (in Spanish). 10 January 2021. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  3. ^ Laurinavičius, Rokas; Baliūnaitė, Ilona (6 July 2020). "This Rescue Shiba Inu Is Responsible For The Hilarious Cheems Meme (30 Pics)". Bored Panda. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Sweat, Zach. "Chatting With Cheems: Balltze's Owner Gives Us Some Personal Insight Into Life With One Of The Web's Favorite Shibas". Know Your Meme. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Doge y Cheems vuelven por San Valentín" [Doge and Cheems return for Valentine's Day]. RTVE (in Spanish). 12 February 2021. Archived from the original on 7 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Cheems, el perro de los memes, está delicado de salud: "No está tan activo como antes"" [Cheems, the dog from the memes, is in fragile health: "He isn't as active as before"]. La Nación (in Spanish). 20 May 2022. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  7. ^ Frausto, Kevin (7 June 2022). "Cheems, perrito viral de internet, se recupera de grave enfermedad" [Cheems, viral Internet doggo, recovers from serious illness]. La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  8. ^ Rodríguez, B. (17 May 2023). "Perrito Cheems está muy enfermo y su dueño teme lo peor" [Doggo Cheems is very sick and his owner fears the worst]. Excélsior (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  9. ^ Blumenthal, Emily (21 August 2023). "Cheems Balltze, the internet's cheeseburger-loving dog, has died". CNN. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Swole Doge vs. Cheems: el meme de los perros que se está viralizando en redes" [Swole Doge vs. Cheems: the dog meme that is going viral on the web]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 27 May 2020. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  11. ^ Entrepreneur en Español (11 January 2021). "Cheems, the Dog Made Famous By Memes, Turned 10 Years Old". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  12. ^ "'This is gold': KFC Spain's twist to Godzilla vs Kong meme sets internet abuzz". The Indian Express. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  13. ^ Quinley, Caleb (8 February 2021). "Three-finger salute: Hunger Games symbol adopted by Myanmar protesters". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  14. ^ Aguilar, Eduardo (19 August 2023). "¿De qué raza es el perro Cheems?" [What breed was Cheems the dog?]. Pet Life (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  15. ^ Cortez, Diego (19 August 2023). "Cheems murió, la famosa perrita [sic] del meme de la 'amsiedad'" [Cheems, the famous dog from the 'amxiety' meme, died]. El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  16. ^ Dubey, Parth (13 December 2021). "Stench Of A Scam? Statement Supposedly By Cheems Inu Raises Red Flags For Crypto Investors". International Business Times. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
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