If parents or anyone who spends time around grade-school kids hasn't heard the phrase "chicken banana" yet, just hang on, writes Sydni Ellis at SheKnows: "It's coming." The meaningless phrase hasn't hit the catchphrase stratosphere that "6-7" did among Gen Alpha, but don't bet against it. At Vox, Anna North digs into the subject in a more serious vein, explaining that the "rise of chicken banana shows how social media influences culture even among kids too young to have social media."
In this case, the phrase actually comes from a goofy song—a pulsing techno track released last year by Sweden's Crazy Music Channel, whose video features exactly what you'd expect: chickens fused with bananas. It took off on TikTok and Instagram as a dance trend—the BBC wrote about that last year—then slipped its source material and became something else entirely: an all-purpose chant, reaction, and inside joke for Gen Alpha kids, including many who've never seen the original clip.
Like "Baby Shark," "skibidi," and "6-7," "chicken banana" doesn't mean much, but it can evidently express a range of emotions. "I heard someone say it in a really sad voice, like, 'Aww, chicken banana,'" Gabe Dannenbring, a seventh-grade teacher in South Dakota, tells North. Other teachers describe kids shouting it in unison, using it in excited tones, or just tossing it out to derail a quiet moment. If that befuddles adults, all the better. And if you're wondering whether the trend has inspired any chicken-banana recipes, well, of course. See the Takeout, which notes that the "sweet and savory" combo might not be as weird as people expect.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
