“Skibidi”, “tradwife” and other slang terms popularised on social media are among thousands of new words to be added to the Cambridge Dictionary this year.
Skibidi is a gibberish term which gained popularity via a viral animated video series on YouTube, while tradwife is a shortening of “traditional wife” – a married mother who cooks, cleans and posts on social media.
More than 6,000 new words have been added, including those that relate to tech giants and remote working.
“Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary,” said lexical programme manager Colin McIntosh.
Skibidi is defined in the dictionary as “a word that can have different meanings such as ‘cool’ or ‘bad’, or can be used with no real meaning as a joke”. An example of its use is “What the skibidi are you doing?”
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian revealed her familiarity with the phrase when she posted a video on Instagram showing a necklace engraved with “skibidi toilet” – the name of the YouTube series.
An earlier use of the word came in 2018 when the band Little Big released a track called Skibidi. The music video has been viewed more than 700 million times and features a dance that went viral.
As well as new phrases, some shortened versions of existing terms have been added, including “delulu” – a play on the word “delusional”, with a similar definition: “believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to”.
An increase in remote working since the pandemic has seen “mouse jiggler” – a device or piece of software used to make it seem as though you are working when you are not – gain its place in the dictionary.
Other work-related words to make the cut include “work wife” and “work spouse”, which acknowledge workplace relationships where two people help and trust each other.
Some composite terms such as “broligarchy” have also been added. Merging “bro” and “oligarchy”, it means “a small group of men, especially men owning or involved in a technology business, who are extremely rich and powerful, and who have or want political influence”.
It was used to describe tech leaders Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg attending Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
Mr McIntosh said Cambridge Dictionary only added words which they believed could stand the test of time.
“It’s not every day you get to see words like ‘skibidi’ and ‘delulu’ make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary,” he said.
“We only add words where we think they’ll have staying power.”
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