Language down the skibidi toilet? - 15th September 2025

6,000 new entries have been added to the Cambridge Dictionary, many of which are regularly used on social media platforms.

Cambridge Dictionary manager Colin McIntosh believes that "internet culture is changing English language". He has a keen interest in the effect that popular culture has on a language.

One social-media entry is 'skibidi', which can have various meanings such as 'cool' or 'bad'. However, it can also be used in ways which are complete nonsense. For example, "What the skibidi are you doing?"

So how did skibidi come into the language? The answer is from Skibidi Toilet. This was a YouTube animation which showed heads appearing from a toilet bowl!

Not everyone's a fan of the recent additions. Lee Escobeda, who's a US writer and artist, is critical about the younger generation using words without meaning.

McIntosh points out that "we only add new words where we think they'll have staying power." 'Tradwife', which came into use in 2020, refers to "a married woman, especially one who posts on social media".

'Delulu', which is shortened from delusional, has also made the grade. It means choosing to believe "things that are not real or true". This was first used to talk about K-pop fans who believed they would date one of the members.

"Delulu is the solulu" has become one of the most popular search terms on TikTok. It means you can bring what you believe into reality, and there have been billions of searches.

So, for you, are these new entries 'red flags' or 'green flags'?