What does 'skibidi' mean? Children's top slang words 2024 revealed in annual Oxford list

While ‘kindness’ beat out terms such as ‘artificial intelligence’ and ‘conflict’ to be crowned the 2024 Children’s Word of the Year, there were also slang words pointed out by the Oxford University press that children voted on. ‘Slay’, meaning to be stylish or successful, was crowned kids’ favourite slang word with more than one in four children choosing this, but others on the list have left parents scratching their heads.

‘Sigma’ was runner-up in the poll, which saw 1,200 children vote on their favourite slang words. The noun, popularised on the internet by figures such as Andrew Tate, is used to denote a highly successful and independent person, normally a male, who ignores societal pressure and can also be used as an adjective to describe traits or activities associated with this lifestyle. ‘Sigma’ can also be used as an ironic insult.

Third in the poll was ‘skibidi’. This confusing term has become colloquial language with Generation Alpha - here’s what it means.

What does ‘skibidi’ mean?

Skibidi actually has no specific meaning. It can be used as slang to mean anything from ‘good’ or ‘cool’ to ‘bad or ‘dumb’, depending on the context of the conversation. ‘Skibidi’ is also used as a gibberish filler word in conversation.

The term originated with a YouTube web series titled ‘Skibidi Toilet’. The first video in the series, created by Alexey Gerasimov, was uploaded to the site in February 2023 and quickly became an internet meme, particularly amongst children. The short videos features a war between toilets with human heads against humanoid figures with electric devices for heads.