Why are tweens and teens saying ‘skibidi’? The strange phenomenon explained

If your teen or tween is constantly referring to everything as 'skibidi,' you'll probably want to know why - we explain this very strange phenomenon.

If you're perpetually confused by teenage slang words, it doesn't look like the struggle to keep on top of this evolving use of language will ever get any easier - new words appear all the time. Even the tweens are at it, with parents needing a tween slang explainer for their young people who aren't yet fully fledged teens.

From 'menty b' to 'rizz,' you're not alone if you feel you need a degree just to decode what your children are talking about. Now there's a new word on the block, and it takes some explaining to understand what this unusual term means. If your teen or tween is 'off to the skibidi shop' or takes a step outside and announces 'it's skibidi freezing out here!', you could be scratching your head wondering who, or what, skibidi is - don't worry, we've got you. This isn't just a US phenomenon either, I live in Bristol UK and my children and huge numbers of kids at their school use the word a lot.

A vast number of young people will have heard the word 'skibidi' from the Skibidi Toilet YouTube series created by Alexey Gerasimov. The series' theme tune is a mashup of Give It to Me by Timbaland and Dom Dom Yes Yes by Biser King. When played at speed, the line "so give it to me, give it to me" becomes "skibidi." Teens and tweens have run with the word and it can be the opening of any sentence, or mean something is good, bad, or amazing. The word can signal the start of a ridiculous conversation, or even a serious one. In short, there's no set definition and "skibidi" can be thrown out anywhere as an adjective.

Skibidi Toilet - Season 1 [FULL SCREEN] - YouTube

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If you've already had enough of everything being "skibidi," things could about to get a lot worse - there could be a Skibidi Toilet film and TV franchise in the works, directed by Michael Bay. 

Former Paramount Pictures president Adam Goodman spoke about a potential collaboration with Bay on a recent episode of Variety’s Strictly Business podcast. He says 'We are absolutely in talks right now both on the television side and the earliest conversations on the film side."

He adds "Think of this as a hybrid of live-action and incredible visual effects and animation. Something like this and some of the art we are developing now can be so badass, and so spectacular and so different. Our hope and the challenge with this is that it's awesome. What we won't do, is just make something just to make it."

From this, you could expect a war between toilet men and electric-headed humanoids to be heading to a skibidi big screen near you at some time in the future - and for the word to fill your life even more than it is already.  

For more on teens and tweens, you'll probably find kids of this generation make fun of you for your millennial ways. We share why your teenager thinks you don't understand them, and how to help your tween identify friendships that are the right fit.