‘Skibidi Toilet’ is one of approximately 6,000 new entries that have been incorporated into the Cambridge Dictionary this year.
The influence of internet culture and social media has become so significant in our daily lives that it is altering our vocabulary.
If you’re familiar with viral trends or memes, you might have encountered ‘Skibidi Toilet,’ a term popular among Generation Alpha, those born from 2010 to 2024.
For those who haven’t spent time with teenagers recently, it’s understandable if the image of an animated human head in a toilet bowl is unfamiliar, leaving many to ponder its meaning.
This online phenomenon originated in February 2023, created by Alexey Gerasimov on his YouTube channel, DaFuq!?Boom!, as a YouTube short.
Skibidi Toilet is a machinima web series that depicts a ‘war’ between eerie, singing human heads, with lyrics repeating the word ‘skibidi,’ and the toilets from which they emerge.
After amassing millions of views on the platform, Kim Kardashian cemented its status in popular culture by showcasing a diamond necklace from her daughter, engraved with the phrase.
The term has since been added to the dictionary alongside other internet terms, such as ‘tradwife,’ a blend of ‘traditional wife,’ often depicting a role centered around cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing, and ‘delulu,’ which signifies delusional behavior, often relating to believing unreal or untrue things by choice.
Despite their seemingly straightforward nature, the meaning of ‘skibidi toilet’ can still be puzzling.
The dictionary entry states that the term can have ‘different meanings such as cool or bad, or can be used with no real meaning.’
This implies it might be used without any specific meaning or denote something good, cool, or bad, depending on context.
Colin McIntosh, Lexical Programme manager at the Cambridge Dictionary, commented on the new additions: “It’s not every day you see words like skibidi and delulu make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary,” according to The Mirror.
“We only add words where we think they’ll have staying power. Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the Dictionary.”
Other new dictionary entries include ‘Lewk,’ a term that became popular online to describe a stylish outfit or ‘look,’ further highlighted on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The phrase ‘forever chemical’ has been included due to growing environmental concerns.
Additionally, ‘broligarchy,’ combining ‘bro’ and ‘oligarchy,’ defines ‘a small group of men, especially men owning or involved in a technology business’.