Skibidi – WTF? Reading Generation Alpha

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Words like “plethora” and “reciprocate” sometimes have a habit of sneaking their way into daily conversation for lawyers and legal professionals. Contract bridge players have developed their own slang for the card table, including “typ” for “thank you, partner”, and they more often use words like “finesse” or “conventional” in conversation. Language communicates broadly, but also evolves into slang terms that are characteristic of interests, careers or generations. An insider’s language evolves and is usually understood only if you’ve taken the time to study it or have been taught it.

Generation Alpha (born in the 2010s) have developed their own language, including the terms “skibidi”, “rizz” and “brainrot”. Much like “g2g” and “brb” might have confused people when instant messaging services first arrived, terms like “cap” and “gyatt” will need some explaining.

Anthony Burgess’s A clockwork orange, courtroom etiquette and prison code all have things in common. They’re examples of the same linguistic evolution that brought terms like “lol” and “roflcopter” into more mainstream use. Here’s how to decode what Generation Alpha is talking about, and why it’s more deeply philosophical than it sounds.

DuckTales and ducktails: Evolving language

The name DuckTales would probably be best known as a cartoon television show for readers from a younger generation, whereas “ducktails” would invoke pictures of roaring, knife-wielding outlaws for anyone who was alive during previous decades. Punchlines, pop culture references and slang terms have been moving in and out of fashion since pre-Shakespearean times. The term “muffin walloper” was Victorian slang for someone gossiping over tea and muffins; it’s not said all that much these days.

The Oxford English Dictionary is still expanding, now including many words that have evolved on the internet. “Brownie point”, “mic drop” and “cheap date” are some of its latest additions. It is also growing to include Korean loanwords like “tteokbokki” and “dalgona”, inspired by particular foods garnering worldwide attention via Squid games.

Next, it’s Generation Alpha’s turn. Gen Alpha speaks their own language, which is rapidly evolving into something that sounds like it could have been a dialect of Nadsat. According to Geeks for geeks, Gen Alpha measures from 2013; however, the exact starting date still seems to be up for debate. Other sources note that members of Generation Alpha are born from Millennials.

Australian politician Fatima Payman gave a 2024 speech using various Gen Alpha slang terms. Born in 1993, Payman represents a crucial point of intersecting generations: Millennials and Gen Alpha.

Other generations also intersect with one another, such as Gen A and Gen Z. There are definite language and cultural crossovers between Generation Z, Millennials and Gen A – one characteristic they share between them is early technology access. Terms like “no cap” and “bop” are mutually understood, along with many terms traced back to the internet.

International news segments also try to decode Gen Alpha slang for other generations. CNY Central covers some of the most common slang by asking kids to define popular terms.

Parodies also take advantage of Gen Alpha’s developing speak. For example, the following video is Harry Potter translated into what the generation is calling “brainrot” – mindless, often nonsensical content typical of the internet. Watching this video is where I realised that it was time to google it.

Lingua Alpha: A handful of basic definitions

Generation Alpha gets its inspiration from current pop culture – this draws from books, movies, games and memes from the 2010s. Websites like Know your meme and Wikitubia are quick ways to source meanings and origins for generational in-jokes and references. Here are some of the terms you might’ve seen or overheard by now:

  • “Bop” refers to attention-grabbing music.
  • “Cap” and “no cap” mean lie or truth.
  • “Cook” or “slay” means to do well.
  • “Flex” is to boast or brag.
  • “Gyatt” is an exclamation of surprise.
  • “Rizz” means charisma – and doesn’t refer to Rizla, the popular rolling paper brand.
  • “Sigma” is someone living by their own rules.
  • “Vibe check” means reading the room or situation.

Inspiration for Gen Alpha slang isn’t just coming from memes and pop culture, but is also drawing on resurrected terms from the past. “Finesse” is seeing more commonplace use by this generation, and the terms “cap” and “no cap” have southern US roots.

Children of Millennials have been raised on technology and with instant access to information. Also raised on gaming, this generation comes with rapid thinking and quick reflexes – challenging someone from Gen Alpha to any video games you thought you might have been good at shows that the next generation might contain formidable thinkers.

Gen Alpha, philosophies and memes

“Ohio” is used to mean something odd or bizarre, derived from memes that depict that particularly strange things happen in Ohio. South Africans can translate these into memes about Boksburg and Brakpan, areas that have become notoriously joked about even by their inhabitants.

Gen Alpha slang also includes the term “skibidi”, which can mean alternatively something good or bad, particularly when combined with another phrase (eg, “skibidi rizz”). The term “skibidi” originates from an absurdist, surreal YouTube video series called Skibidi toilet, created by Alexey Gerasimov – a short explanation places a force of toilets containing heads against equally strange enemies with televisions for heads.

“Skibidi” lends itself to even further explanation, being the sped-up chorus of Timbaland’s song “Give it to me”, read as “Skibidi” instead. The song was famously used in early episodes of Skibidi toilet, but was later replaced after copyright issues.

Animation is deliberately choppy, while its plot and imagery can be described only as surreal and even somewhat unsettling. Some of the characters have been transcribed directly from video games like Half-life, imported as models by the animator. Negotiations are underway to turn Skibidi toilet into a possible series or movie. The first episode gives a fair idea of just how bizarre the show actually is.

Absurdism and surrealism are ideas appearing to resonate with Gen Alpha, where thoughts also delve into rejecting or mocking things described as “brainrot” – any mass-produced media that dumbs down general thinking. Gen Alpha, viewed from the perspective of its language, craves knowledge and deep philosophical exploration. Gen Alpha wants to be smart, and very much realises that they are growing to be the next generation in control.

It’s not made up just out of memes, but contains explorations of absurdism, surrealism, multiverses and simulation theory – the concept that we might be living entirely in a generated computer simulation. While Gen Alpha slang might seem simple, it’s a deep rabbit hole of in-jokes and philosophical ideas.

See also:

Found in translation

On(ver)taalbaarheden

Valse vriend: Snert

Hip-hop tussen tale

Nostalgia for television in the streaming age

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