The awooga part comes from old cartoons and submarine dive alarms, where a rising and falling klaxon signaled panic or exaggerated attraction, later popularized in animation for bulging eyes and jaw drops. The fog horn adds the deep nautical blast used by ships in low visibility. Combined online, the pair became a short meme sound effect for edits, streams and soundboards, valued because viewers recognize the joke in under three seconds without any dialogue or context needed to understand the reaction.