From “Sigma” to “Skibidi”: What Parents Googled About Teen Slang in 2025

In 2025, parents around the world once again turned to Google to make sense of family life, from the earliest baby worries to the confusing language and online habits of teenagers.

While early parenting searches often focus on sleep, feeding, and health, the questions parents ask about tweens and teens, concern something harder to decode: what their kids are saying and watching online.

A recent survey by OnePoll found that the average American parent turns to Google around six times a day, adding up to more than 2,000 child-related searches every year.

“Why do kids say…”. When parenting turns into translation work

f baby-related searches are driven by worry, teen slang searches are driven by pure confusion. In 2025, parents flooded Google with questions trying to understand what their kids were saying.

Here are some of the slang-related searches parents made most often, explained:

“Sigma”

Used to describe someone who’s independent and confident, often positioned as someone who doesn’t need approval. It can sound empowering, but it’s also tied to online subcultures that sometimes promote isolation or rigid ideas about identity.

“6–7” and “41”

These numbers don’t have a clear meaning. They’re often used because they confuse outsiders — a reminder that teens create in-jokes that spread rapidly online.

“Skibidi” and “Skibidi toilet”

- Pure nonsense terms with no fixed meaning. They work as filler words, similar to “whatever” or “thingy”, and are often used for humor, absurdity, or to derail a conversation.

“Ohio”-

Used to describe something strange, awkward, or cringe. It has nothing to do with the actual place and works more like an inside joke than a real insult.

“Rizz”

- Short for charisma. If someone has “rizz,” they’re charming, confident, or good at flirting. Unlike many slang terms, this one has stuck around longer than expected.

“Aura”

- Usually positive. It describes someone’s vibe or presence, the feeling they give off without trying too hard.

“Good boy”

- Often used sarcastically rather than as a compliment. In teen slang, it’s commonly aimed at someone who follows rules too closely or tries too hard to please.

“Chat”

- It’s a way of addressing everyone at once, heavily influenced by livestreams and online communities where audiences are referred to collectively as “chat.”

Why understanding teen slang matters

Slang gives parents a glimpse into how online culture is shaping their child’s world, what’s considered cool, awkward, powerful, or embarrassing among their peers.

Some slang is pure nonsense, meant to be funny or confusing on purpose. But other words, even ones that sound harmless, can carry hidden meanings. They can be used to exclude, mock, or quietly put someone down, especially in group chats, comment sections, or gaming spaces where tone is easy to miss and messages spread fast.

Understanding the language helps parents spot the difference between jokes and moments where something might be off.

Teens aren’t just consuming content. They’re living inside digital environments, where trends, language, pressure, and influence move quickly. In those spaces, misunderstandings, bullying, impersonation, scams, and harmful content can quietly slip in.

How to protect your family in a noisy online world

The online world has made parenting both easier and more confusing at the same time.

On one hand, it offers support, reassurance, and shared experience. On the other, it’s crowded with misinformation, exaggerated advice, manipulative content, and scams that target families at vulnerable moments, from exhausted new parents to teens navigating identity and social pressure.

A Bitdefender Family Plan is designed to support families through all these stages. It grows with the family, from a child’s first screen time and device, through the teenage years when online risks, pressure, and exposure become more complex. With tools that support safer browsing, manage screen time, and protect against scams and online threats, it helps families stay connected without worrying about online threats.

Find out more about your family safety plan, here.

Sources: Parents.com