Language Matters | Millennial or older? You’ll hate ‘skibidi’, ‘brat’, ‘ate’ but they define Gens Z and Alpha

It is the new year, and the birth of a new generation! 2025 sees the start of Generation Beta, the cohort comprising individuals born between 2025 and 2039. Generations are typically defined as groups of people born in a specific time period who share cultural, social and historical experiences, often shaped by major events, technologies and social transformations, which influence their attitudes, values and behaviours. Gen Beta is anticipated to be a generation characterised by significant technological integration and a strong appreciation for diversity. Until Gen Beta becomes articulate, though, the language which is being used and negotiated is that of previous generations. With Gen Z and Gen Alpha growing up in highly digital and hyperconnected worlds, it is little wonder that their linguistic repertoire – their slang – is characterised by pop culture references, viral memes and niche internet subcultures. The terms spread virally and have wide or growing currency, even in the mainstream. As a telling illustration of their impact, Word of the Year (WOTY) selections in recent years by established English dictionaries have included terms such as “rizz” (Oxford WOTY 2023), “brat” (Collins WOTY 2024), and “demure” (Dictionary.com WOTY 2024). Older generations may look scathingly upon such use of language, seeing it as part of the younger generations’ “brain rot” (also Oxford WOTY 2024). One delightful example is “skibidi”. The term gained prominence with the creation in 2023 of the animated web series Skibidi Toilet, by Georgia-based animator Alexey Gerasimov, featuring dystopian violence between human-head mobile toilets and humanoids. The word “skibidi” originally came from the 2022 song “Dom Dom Yes Yes” by Bulgarian singer Biser King. It is an example of a non-lexical vocable – nonsense syllables or sounds which are used in a wide variety of music across cultures and languages; scat singing in jazz is a well-known example of this. While “skibidi” (or “skibidi toilet”) initially meant “evil”, “bad” or “dumb”, it swiftly took on a life of its own, and can be used to mean “cool” or “very, totally”. The lists of such terms is long and can be easily found online. They are often described as Gen Z and/or Gen Alpha slang. But this overlooks the origins of some of them, which – in addition to internet pop culture – often lie in non-mainstream cultures, such as African-American Vernacular English or LGBTQ communities. Take “slay”. Its conventional meaning is to kill a person, or animal such as a dragon, often in a violent or spectacular way. It also can mean to impress or amuse, as in “your jokes slay me”. Today, it can be used both as a transitive and intransitive verb (that is, with and without a grammatical object) to mean to do something or perform exceptionally well or impressively, for example: “From the red carpet to her sure-to-be epic performance, one thing is for certain – she’s gonna slay.” It can also be an adjective – “your nails are slay!”, or a complimentary expression – “Slay!” This meaning has its roots some 50 years ago in underground ballroom culture. Elaborate balls organised by and providing safe spaces for queer people of colour originated in Harlem, New York, before spreading to major cities in the United States. Split into various categories, participants would compete, perform, dance, lip-synch and model. The catalysts for “slay” becoming more globally mainstream include the television show RuPaul’s Drag Race, launched in 2009, and singer Beyoncé’s chorus lyric “I slay” in her 2016 hit “Formation”. Similarly, the use of she/he/they “ate” to indicate that someone has done a great job or done something with style, usually referring to fashion, music, or other performances, also originates in the African-American and LGBTQ communities. The usage emerged in the 2000s as a way to praise a woman who delivered an exceptional performance in a drag show, dance competition or similar activity. In this brave new year – for Gen Beta will grow up in a society which embraces change and inclusion – let us make the effort to appreciate the deep, meaningful origins of our language. Let them cook!

Language Matters | Millennial or older? You’ll hate ‘skibidi’, ‘brat’, ‘ate’ but they define Gens Z and Alpha

It would not be very demure of you to whine about Gen Z/Alpha slang like ‘rizz’ or ‘skibidi’ – these are words shaped by shared experiences