"SEXY BOW!"Explanation At the 1:30 mark of the Nintendo Switch announcement trailer, an NPC screams something similar to this phrase, riding the bug equivalent of a horse while stabbing enemies. It was one of the first phrases in Silksong being misheard out of the bugs Speaking Simlish.
"Milksong"Explanation Quite an intentional naming by fans for the sequel, in an attempt to heavily associate Hornet with milk just by changing the first letter of "silk" (which she uses a lot). Although there are several variations and origins of this (i.e. Like if the Knight from the first game is linked to the black void, then Hornet might have some powers fueled by a liquid. Plus, it was also pointed out that there is an emphasis of the color white in Hornet's HUD.)
Others simply just wantedto draw Hornetwith a box of milk... And many other milk-related Hornet fanarts came, even before Silksong is released. In fact, the second linked image was claimed to be the first instance of these "Milk" memes, which brings us the next fandom phrase below:
"How did the Milk Memes even start?"Explanation A phrase commented by those who are baffled on the origins of the "Milksong" meme and all "Milk"-related puns to Hornet. While it was claimed to have started from a single image, fans didn't expect that it would blow out of proportion after the Silksong trailer. When these memes popped up, people wanted explanations, hence this question and its variants came to be.
"Pale King is an Anti-Vaxxer"Explanation Back in the first game, charm Flavor Texts and an exposition from Salubra reveals that the Lifeblood substance is banned in Hallownest; some theorists pin the blame on the Pale King despite no evidence pointing to him specifically. In the demo, Hornet is shown to be injecting herself with Lifeblood using a syringe. Cue some jokes connecting the theory to this detail, and claiming that the Pale King also hates Lifeblood-filled syringes by extension, hence "anti-vaxxer".
Clownsong Explanation As Silksong went through a few long periods of radio silence and Development Hell, fans began to joke about getting excited for news that would never come every game reveal stream (Nintendo Direct, State of Play, you name it), shown by memes of people putting on clown makeup to illustrate the humiliation. Briefly turned heartwarming in June 2022, when a new trailer for Silksong finally released, with jokes of people finally being able to ditch the clown wigs and wash off the makeup now that there was a release window... only for the developers to announce later on that it will miss that release window, with fans returning to applying clown makeup soon after.
Daily Silksong News Explanation Refers to a YouTube channel who uploads daily with any new news about the game. Given the current state of Team Cherry, most of their videos are simply "Today is [date], this is [host], your host for the day, bringing you your daily Silksong news. There has been no news to report for Silksong today. This has been your daily Silksong news for today, [date]."
The fishing minigame Explanation Another commonly mentioned feature when people pretend the game is already out. This is sometimes blown so out of proportion that people act like the fishing minigame is the only part of the game worth playing, or even the only thing in the entire game.
The Shawfish Explanation Commonly cited to be the hardest fish to catch in the minigame, derived from Hornet's "Shaw!" voice line.
The Zotefish Explanation Another hypothetical fish from the fishing minigame, this one based on Zote. Often joked to grant ridiculously powerful effects if used as an item.
The Shawtgun Explanation A hypothetical Infinity +1 Sword, formed from a portmanteu of the existing "Shaw" meme and the sheer hilarity of the concept of Hornet wielding a realistic shotgun.
It's also common to joke that the game will include a Romance Sidequest (or NSFW version thereof), usually involving multiple characters, typically including Grimm and Lace.
"This community desperately needs Silksong"Explanation A copypasta common on posts and videos about newly found exploits, mods, or really anything related to new Hollow Knight content not by Team Cherry.
"Bait used to be believable"Explanation A phrase used to describe cheap attempts at tricking silksong fans, such as fake development news and release dates. Often accompanied by fanart of Hornet smoking a cigarette.
to draw Hornet