LONDON (BN24) — What the skibidi is happening to the English language?
The increasing use of TikTok trends and social media terms in everyday conversation has led Cambridge Dictionary to include “skibidi,” “delulu” and “tradwife” in the 6,000 new words it has added to its online edition over the past year.
Words popularized by Gen Z and Gen Alpha including “skibidi,” “delulu,” and “tradwife” are among 6,000 new entries to the online edition of the Cambridge Dictionary over the last year, its publisher said Monday.
“Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary,” said Colin McIntosh, lexical program manager at Cambridge Dictionary, the world’s largest online dictionary.
The term “skibidi” represents perhaps the most enigmatic addition to the prestigious dictionary. The dictionary also took on the challenge of defining skibidi as a term which had “different meanings such as cool or bad, or can be used with no real meaning.” The gibberish word was coined by the creator of an animated YouTube series and can mean “cool” or “bad” or be used with no real meaning as a joke.
Other planned additions reflect contemporary cultural phenomena and social trends. “Tradwife” enters the dictionary as a contraction of “traditional wife” referring to a married mother who cooks, cleans and posts on social media about her lifestyle choices. Meanwhile, “delulu” represents a shortening of the word delusional that means “believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to.”
The pandemic’s lasting impact on workplace culture appears in the new dictionary entry “mouse jiggler,” defined as a device or software used to make it seem like someone is working when they are not. The term reflects the increase in remote working arrangements that have persisted since the global health crisis.
Environmental concerns have also influenced the dictionary’s latest additions. “Forever chemical” enters the lexicon as a harmful chemical that remains in the environment for extended periods, reflecting growing awareness about persistent environmental pollutants and climate change impacts.
Cambridge Dictionary employs rigorous standards for word inclusion, using the Cambridge English Corpus, a database containing more than 2 billion words of written and spoken English. This comprehensive resource allows lexicographers to monitor how new words are used by different people, tracking their frequency and contextual applications across various situations.
“It’s not every day you get to see words like ‘skibidi’ and ‘delulu’ make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary. We only add words where we think they’ll have staying power,” McIntosh explained.
The massive addition of 6,000 new terms represents the dictionary’s response to the accelerating pace of language evolution driven by digital communication platforms. Social media, particularly TikTok, has emerged as a powerful force in creating and spreading new vocabulary across global audiences at unprecedented speed.
The selection process for new dictionary entries involves careful analysis of usage patterns, ensuring that newly coined terms demonstrate sufficient adoption and longevity to warrant formal recognition. This approach helps distinguish between temporary internet fads and genuine linguistic innovations that will endure in the English language.
The latest additions illustrate how internet culture continues reshaping traditional language boundaries, with terms originating from video content, social media trends, and digital workplace realities finding their way into formal linguistic recognition. These developments reflect broader societal changes, from evolving work arrangements to shifting cultural values and environmental consciousness.
The Cambridge Dictionary’s embrace of contemporary slang terms alongside more traditional additions demonstrates the institution’s commitment to documenting the living, breathing nature of the English language as it adapts to modern communication methods and cultural shifts. The inclusion of seemingly nonsensical terms like “skibidi” alongside more conventional additions underscores the democratic nature of language evolution in the digital age.
Associated Press
