If you鈥檝e noticed kids鈥� conversations sound a little different this back-to-school season, you鈥檙e not alone.
Words like 鈥渟kibidi,鈥� 鈥渟igma鈥� and 鈥済yatt鈥� now pepper tweens鈥� sentences, and 鈥淥hio鈥� is more than just a U.S. state: it鈥檚 a state of being.
The issue came up at 11-year-old Dashiell Chinn鈥檚 summer camp, where he said his counsellor banned the word 鈥渟kibidi,鈥� citing its annoyingness and lack of meaning.
Dashiell鈥檚 dad Wyatt Chinn said he understands the impulse.
鈥淭hat actually is exactly why we tell Dashiell he shouldn鈥檛 swear,鈥� Chinn said. 鈥淏ecause it鈥檒l stunt your vocabulary. You鈥檙e at an age where it鈥檚 very important to build out your vocabulary and use words that have actual, specific meanings.鈥�
鈥淪kibidi鈥� can be used as an adjective or adverb 鈥� sometimes replacing 鈥渃ool鈥� or 鈥渂ad鈥� 鈥� or it can be repeated ad nauseam for 鈥渃omedic鈥� effect. It was popularized in a series of YouTube videos called 鈥淪kibidi Toilet鈥� that Chinn said 鈥渉aunts鈥� his dreams.
But the word鈥檚 meaninglessness may be part of its allure, said Sali Tagliamonte, a professor of sociolinguistics at the University of Toronto, who studies language change.
She first heard the word when she was in England, going into different classrooms and teaching teens about language.
鈥淭hey thought it was a big joke against adults who didn鈥檛 know what it meant, and they would just use it to confound the adults in the room,鈥� Tagliamonte said.
The word鈥檚 popularity is highest among tweens and young teens: members of an age group who want to separate themselves from both little kids and adults.
New slang often bubbles up in this demographic, she noted, as kids move to larger schools or start having a different cohort of classmates for each class. They鈥檙e exposed to different people, and therefore different language.
What鈥檚 different from past generations, Tagliamonte said, is the speed of language change.
鈥淭here鈥檚 lots more ways to communicate,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just speaking on the street but texting on our phones and listening to podcasts and checking in 鈥� wherever we鈥檙e going online.鈥�
That, she said, isn鈥檛 a bad thing.
鈥淣obody should be too concerned about new words,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey should just wonder how they came to be and watch where they go. It鈥檚 fascinating to me.鈥�
But those quick changes can lead to confusion as the meaning of new words shifts.
Chinn said he鈥檚 found himself correcting Dashiell鈥檚 use of words like 鈥渟us鈥� 鈥� which is short for suspicious or suspect 鈥� and 鈥渟igma,鈥� which members of gen Alpha (the successorsto gen Z) have started using to mean 鈥渃ool.鈥�
But Chinn said that word in particular worries him, because it鈥檚 adapted from online content made by boys and young men who tend to vilify women. Those boys don鈥檛 identify as either 鈥渁lpha males,鈥� who are successful with women, or 鈥渂etas,鈥� who they believe are weak.
鈥淪o they say I鈥檓 a 鈥榮igma,鈥� because I鈥檓 still dominant but I don鈥檛 have any friends and girls don鈥檛 like me,鈥� Chinn said.
He doesn鈥檛 want his son using words that validate that worldview, he said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if they鈥檙e just perverting words into their own slang, or if they鈥檙e using them incorrectly,鈥� he said, before conceding: 鈥淥r maybe it鈥檚 evolving.鈥�
A GLOSSARY OF TERMS
鈥淐hat鈥�: a generic term of address for an audience; a sort of plural 鈥測ou鈥� born of online content creators who stream videos of themselves gaming, in which they address live viewers who provide commentary in the chat section.
鈥淔anum Tax鈥�: stealing food between friends, based on the username of Twitch streamer Fanum.
鈥淕yatt鈥�: a big butt; short for an overenunciated pronunciation of 鈥済oddamn.鈥�
鈥淥hio鈥�: crazy, strange; based on funny stories that came out of Ohio.
鈥淩izz鈥�: short for charisma. See also: 鈥淩izzler鈥� for a charming person.
鈥淪igma鈥�: Cool; adapted from an online subculture of boys who don鈥檛 identify as either 鈥渁lpha males,鈥� who are successful with women, or 鈥渂etas,鈥� who they believe are weak.
鈥淪kibidi鈥�: we won鈥檛 even try to define this one.
-with files from Cassandra Szklarski.
