Who was reheating nachos and Onika Burgers at the Khia Asylum? If you can’t comprehend that statement, let this article be your guide to 2026 Pop Culture lingo.
Khia Asylum
The Khia Asylum is a theoretical jail in which one hit wonders and other unproductive artists live and perform. The phrase originated from Twitter, and is named after the singer Khia, famous for being a one hit wonder. The artist’s name is actually pronounced like Kaya, but was repeatedly mispronounced due to mainstream unfamiliarity. The phrase is used as a joke to group artists who never quite reached mainstream or who are gradually becoming less relevant. The joke has moved on from just stan twitter discourse and now is being picked up by stars and interviewers, as both Charli xcx and Zara Larsson, past residents of the asylum, have mentioned it in interviews when asked about their recent mainstream success. Other artists are aware of their residencies in the asylum and are trying their best to escape, Bebe Rexha for example released an audio recording in which she speaks about herself still being stuck while Sabrina, Charli and Zara all got out. Although the Khia Asylum joke is somewhat lighthearted and pokes fun at how mainstream success is a lot about luck, it has received backlash as very few male artists are categorized within the Khia Asylum. However, some social media users have fought back at this, claiming that ALL male pop stars are permanent residents of the asylum.
Reheating nachos
To “reheat nachos” is to recreate something that has already been done. The phrase has a literal origin, as reheated nachos are never as good as they originally were. For example, when somebody says, “Benson Boone reheated Harry Styles’ nachos,” it means that Benson Boone is attempting to build off of Harry’s success without contributing anything new. Reheating nachos is the internet’s way of calling out unoriginality in not only the music industry, but everywhere. At the Super Bowl, Charlie Puth reheated Zayn Malik’s nachos with his hairstyle. Another great example, Meghan Trainor recently showed off a new aesthetic with bangs and a pink corset, and was immediately called out for reheating Sabrina Carpenter’s nachos.
Onika Burgers
Although the most pointless on this list, Onika Burgers is a groundbreaking contribution to internet discourse. It all started with a tweet from Pop Base, who posted a drawing that North West had made of her grandmother Kris. An unsuspecting user, who happened to be a Nicki Minaj fan, commented, “why she ate,” in reference to North’s drawing. In response, somebody else commented, “she=Onika ate=burgers.” At first glance, these are just words, but – “onika burgers” is a sneak diss at Nicki Minaj, whose real name is Onika, saying that she eats burgers, which is a convoluted way of calling Nicki fat. The sheer randomness of this comment has contributed to its widespread popularity, as “onika burgers” can be used as a response to anything, and often appears in comment sections of posts that have absolutely nothing to do with Nicki Minaj.
Although this list is just chronically online blabber, the evolution of language is extremely fascinating – even more fascinating is how new words and phrases are picked up by the general public and are plastered everywhere and eventually become mainstream. Whether we like it or not, social media has made a huge impact on this evolution of language as posts using these new words and phrases spread around like wildfire.