Yoshi first appeared as Mario's dinosaur companion in Super Mario World, the launch title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the early 1990s, where eating enemies with his long tongue and swallowing them was a core mechanic. That gulp became one of the game's most recognisable sound effects, and as retro gaming clips, speedruns and soundboards spread online, fans began lifting it for edits outside the game. It endures because it is short, instantly readable and tied to a beloved character, making it a quick shorthand for eating, grabbing or finishing something.