Chonk (Oh Lawd He Comin')

The Story of Chonk (Oh Lawd He Comin')

The Chonk Chart is not about a single cat. It is a meme format that went viral in November 2018, featuring a satirical body condition scale for overweight cats. The scale runs from "A Fine Boi" through "He Chomnk" all the way up to "OH LAWD HE COMIN'" for cats so large they appear to have their own gravitational field.

The chart was created by a Facebook group called "This Cat Is Chonky." It was based loosely on real veterinary body condition charts, but exaggerated for comedy. The original version used a stock photo of a rotund orange tabby. Within days it had been shared hundreds of thousands of times and adapted to every animal species imaginable.

The word "chonk" entered internet vocabulary permanently. It now describes any pleasantly round animal. Reddit's r/Chonkers community has over 800,000 members posting photos of their oversized pets. The format works because it captures the specific shape of a cat that has committed fully to a sedentary indoor lifestyle.

There have been ongoing debates about whether celebrating fat cats encourages pet obesity. The r/Chonkers subreddit added rules requiring de-chonking progress photos. Veterinarians have weighed in publicly. The meme persists regardless. OH LAWD HE COMIN' remains one of the most recognisable phrases in internet cat culture.