Near the end of summer, the Cambridge Dictionary announced it added 6,000 new words to its online entries this year. Among those words: “skibidi.”
If you’re not familiar, here’s the skinny on “skibidi”: Among teens and younger children, it’s a well-known (if not universally well-liked) word with many purposes. For example, it might appear in sentences like “You’re so skibidi” or “What the skibidi?” When making a promise, someone might raise their right hand and say, “On skibidi.” Or, a child might simply wander around, muttering “skibidi, skibidi, skibidi” for no reason other than to create their own background noise.
The word came from an animated YouTube show called “Skibidi Toilet,” in which human heads pop out of toilets and spew nonsense. Immediately after the show’s premiere in 2023, “skibidi” took off.
If you don’t get it, that’s fine. You don’t have to.
That’s the thing about slang. Every generation has its own, and it needn’t make sense to other generations. Some slang terms stick around, while others fade out of popularity.
Doomed? Or the Natural Course of Language?
Not everybody subscribes to this live-and-let-live attitude about language. After Cambridge made its announcement, I spotted the following social media comments:
“We are doomed.”
“I hate it here.”
“So it’s not a real dictionary anymore. Pathetic.”
Such reactions sometimes happen when dictionary editors make decisions. People debated the merits of “twerk” when Oxford added it back in 2013. Jamie Lee Curtis set off a social media kerfuffle in 2020 when she discovered “irregardless” is listed in Merriam-Webster. She mistakenly thought M-W had added it that year, when in fact, M-W added it in 1934. “Irregardless” has been in the dictionary our whole lives, and we’ve been fine.
So it shall be for “skibidi.” People may grumble, but its spot in the Cambridge Dictionary isn’t hurting anyone, nor does its inclusion obligate you to use it or like it. You’re free to take a hard stance against it, but you should know your opposition won’t slow it down. Only time will tell if “skibidi” sticks.
For now, the Cambridge Dictionary editors are merely doing their job. A dictionary is a collection of the words currently in use, and when a dictionary grows, it means the language is growing.
Indeed, “skibidi” is proof that the English language is fully thriving. The only languages that never add words are dead languages, like Latin, Ancient Greek, and Sanskrit. Living languages like English grow and shift and adapt. That’s what makes them alive.
What the Future Holds
So far, Cambridge is the only dictionary with a proper entry for “skibidi.” M-W includes it in the Slang & Trending section, where the editors of the iconic dictionary list words they’re keeping an eye on. Other major players like the Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary.com, and American Heritage Dictionary are sans “skibidi” — for now.
As for other slang terms, M-W editors are monitoring “brain rot,” “six seven,” and the newest sense of “sigma,” all of which can be heard in middle and high school classrooms everywhere. Again, if you’re confused or not a fan, that’s OK. You’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine.
On skibidi.
