What does ‘nah he tweakin’ mean? Phrase and origins explained - and why it’s being posted all over Instagram

The seemingly random phrase actually traces back to rapper Lil Nas X, after skateboarder Tony Hawk announced some unusual limited edition skateboards
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If Instagram is one of the first apps you use when you wake up in the morning, you might have noticed that one specific phrase is being posted over and over again - “nah he tweakin”.

This is what you need to know about the comment, from what it means to how it got started.

What does ‘nah he tweakin’ mean?

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The word “tweakin” is most popularly used in hip hop and rap culture, and can refer to someone who is maybe high on drugs and doing crazy stuff, or just to describe someone acting irrational.

Urban Dictionary defines it as: “The act of not making sense or saying some stupid s**t.”

Where did the phrase come from?

To understand the origin of the phrase, you’ll have to cast your mind back to when rapper Lil Nas X found himself amidst some controversy over his Satan Shoes that he sold in connection with the release of his Montero music video.

Lil Nas X left a comment saying 'nah he tweakin' after it was announced that Tony Hawk was releasing limited edition skateboards that were made using his blood (Photo: Rich Polk/Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)Lil Nas X left a comment saying 'nah he tweakin' after it was announced that Tony Hawk was releasing limited edition skateboards that were made using his blood (Photo: Rich Polk/Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
Lil Nas X left a comment saying 'nah he tweakin' after it was announced that Tony Hawk was releasing limited edition skateboards that were made using his blood (Photo: Rich Polk/Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)

The black and red Nikes allegedly contained a drop of human blood in the soles, and the shoes were sold out within a minute of going on sale online.

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Hours after the shoes sold out, Nike issued a lawsuit against MSCHF, the company that made the shoes, and they were later recalled as part of the settlement agreement. Nike did not object to the sale of the Jesus Shoes that MSCHF sold in 2019.

The shoes were met with criticism from many different directions, including disapproval from basketball player Nick Young, evangelical pastor Mark Burns and American football player Trevor Lawrence.

Fast forward to now, and professional skateboarder Tony Hawk has released his own line of limited-edition skateboards that have been painted with his own blood, in collaboration with drinks company Liquid Death.

In the video announcing the boards, Hawk can be seen getting his blood taken, as he says: “Hey what’s up, I’m Tony Hawk, and I recently became an ambassador for Liquid Death mountain water.

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“Apparently I didn’t read the fine print, and now Liquid Death officially owns my soul and my… blood too? I don’t know, it’s very confusing.”

Hawk explains that his blood has been mixed into the paint that is then used to make the graphics for the skateboards.

Liquid Death boasts that the boards are “infused with 100 per cent real Tony Hawk”.

The skateboards, which sold for $500, are now completely sold out on the Liquid Death website.

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After the boards were announced, Lil Nas X tweeted: “Now that Tony Hawk has released skateboards with his blood painted on them, and there was no public outrage, are y’all ready to admit y’all were never actually upset over the blood in the shoes? And maybe u were mad for some other reason?”

Instagram account @rap posted about the boards, asking: “#TonyHawk’s blood is being used in $500 limited-edition skateboards. Y’all rockin with it!?”

The rapper left a comment on the post simply saying: “nah he tweakin.”

The internet saw the post and quickly ran with it, commenting the phrase everywhere and anywhere.

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Did the phrase break Instagram?

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It appeared that the influx of the repeated phrase wrecked some havoc on Instagram, with the social media platform acknowledging bizarre effect it had on its network.

Instagram tweeted: “Yeah we tweakin, but only a little bit. We’re aware that some people are having issues loading their comments (we’re fixing that) and some are seeing a bunch of comments saying “nah he tweakin” (what is that?). More soon!”

A few hours later it followed up with another tweet: “Today some people experienced loading comments on Instagram (except, it appears, for “nah he tweakin”). We’ve resolved this issue and all comments should now be back.”

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