Take the L comes from Fortnite Battle Royale, released by Epic Games in 2017, where it is an emote built around slang for taking a loss, with L standing for loss. The dance and its looping tune became one of the game's most recognisable taunts during its peak popularity, spreading to schoolyards, sports celebrations and social media. Players clipped and boosted the audio for soundboards and edits, and the loud version keeps that joke going as a quick, exaggerated way to tease anyone on the losing side.