Language down the skibidi toilet? - 15th September 2025

The latest edition of the Cambridge Dictionary contains 6,000 new additions, many of which reflect the impact of social media and popular culture on language.

Colin McIntosh, who's lexical programme manager of the Cambridge Dictionary, says, "Internet culture is changing English language, and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary."

Heading up the recent additions from online slang is 'skibidi', meaning 'cool' or 'bad'. However, "it can be used with no real meaning, as a joke" as in "What the skibidi are you doing?"

And what's the origin of skibidi? Well, it's thanks to the animated YouTube series Skibidi Toilet, which features heads coming out of toilets!

Despite the appeal, not everyone's impressed by the new generation of meaningless terms. In a Guardian newspaper article, US writer and artist Lee Escobeda noted that skibidi perfectly sums up today's youth. He regards this generation as "fluent in irony but starved for meaning."

A potential entry's expected lifespan is also considered, as McIntosh states, "we only add words where we think they'll have staying power." 'Tradwife', used since 2020, refers to a socially-conservative, traditional wife influencer. It's defined as "a married woman, especially one who posts on social media, who stays at home doing cleaning and has children that she takes care of."

'Delulu', described as "believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to," evolved from the word delusional. Emerging 10 years ago, it was an insult for obsessive K-pop fans who wrongly thought they would be the love interest of their idols.

One of the top trending terms on TikTok, "delulu is the solulu," meaning that you can manifest what you want in life, has been searched billions of times.

So, would you give these social-media-born words the 'red flag' or the 'green flag'?