On a recent road trip with my favorite soon-to-be 10-year-old, I learned that some popular Generation Alpha slang was reportedly getting banned in schools. “Skibidi Ohio Riz” had become verboten. When I asked her what it meant, she clammed up. No explanation was forthcoming, and I was left to my own devices.

Being the driver, and with my phone surrendered to her as the DJ, my only device was my un-augmented brain. Skibidi Ohio Riz. Hmm. I recalled a song she had played me a few years ago called “Skibidi.” The song itself seemed largely meaningless – and extremely catchy! – so we continued to listen to it on that car trip.

Then I remembered that a year or so ago, she shared an updated version involving toilets. Despite its popularity, and later success as a weirdly surreal web series, we both preferred the original.

But now, how had Skibidi paired with Ohio and Riz? And why was it banned? I tried to probe periodically, thinking she would forget about her own ban to keep me from knowing anything about it. But I was shut down. “Zizi, grown-ups can’t know!”

That night, trip over, phone back in hand, brain now augmented with my trusty Chatty Cathy, I investigated. Here’s what Cathy and I discovered:

• Skibidi: Originates from the viral YouTube series “Skibidi Toilet.” Depending on context, it can mean something “bad” or “awesome.”
• Ohio: Shorthand for bizarre or cringe-worthy, inspired by the “Only in Ohio” meme.
• Riz: Short for charisma, especially in a romantic context.
• Skibidi Ohio Riz is a humorous insult implying awkward or ineffective flirting skills—essentially, a lack of charisma
• It’s now reportedly banned in some schools due to its potential for derogatory use.

Why am I sharing this? It got me thinking about the interplay of two things: 1) The value in being meaningful. Words are what we collectively make them. They’re spongelike, absorbing varied meanings and applications, as much or as little as we give them; 2) The value in being meaningless. It’s fun to be silly, to play with language, and to claim words as uniquely ours. To give them no meaning, or hidden meaning. Each generation does this, leaving old slang behind as elders catch on.

For now, this kind of creativity still seems to be a distinctly human gift. We make up nonsense, imbue it with meaning, popularize it, and abandon it for something new. I do hope this kind of Gen AI (Generation Alpha Intelligence) stays uniquely human- though not opposed to our current Gen AI helping us decode it!

Here’s to your finding fun and meaning in the meaningless!