WTF Does Sigma Mean?! A Teacher Explains What Your Kid Is Saying

If you’ve spent any time with teens recently you might have heard them describe something as “sigma”, or even exclaim: “What the sigma?!”Confused about what it might mean, or why kids are so obsessed with saying it? Here’s a quick breakdown of where the word has come from...Sigma actually has origins in the manosphereSigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. However in 2010, “the ‘sigma male’ term was coined by the far-right writer Theodore Robert Beale as a counterpoint to the alpha/beta male hierarchy”, according to Cosmopolitan.Since then, sigma has been used to describe a certain type of guy.The alpha/beta hierarchy refers to some men being more dominant (alphas) and others being more submissive (betas). Then there is supposedly a third type of male: sigma.As Niall Stewart explains in a piece for Medium they are “likeable and confident, but cunning and calculating”.A sigma male is someone who is a lone wolf and doesn’t follow the pack – someone who is considered successful and cool, but on their own terms. Someone like fictional character Patrick Bateman from the movie American Psycho. (Yikes.)The term sigma particularly took root in the manosphere, an online community which has been, in some part, linked to misogyny and anti-feminist views. In a TikTok explainer on the topic, teacher Mr Lindsey described sigmas as “the same thing as an alpha, but humbler”.“Now middle schoolers, high schoolers, they aren’t really using it in that way,” added Mr Lindsey, of the word sigma. “But it still does retain some of the original meaning.”So, how are kids using it?The teacher said when a kid uses it, they’re often just saying something is “the best”. For example: “You look so sigma.”Or, “those trainers are so sigma”.Some are using it as another word for cool. And then there’s the additional phrase: what the sigma?!Ok, so what does that mean?“Kids are just saying it any chance they get in the classrooms,” said Mr Lindsay.The teacher explained it came from a Spongebob meme, of all places. “It started trending back at the beginning of April, there’s this animation of Squidward and Spongebob and they’re watching somebody making an ice cream cone. And at some point, Squidward just goes: erm, what the sigma?”He added: “This one really means nothing, it’s just a filler phrase, a filler word, a reaction ... they’re using it because it’s trending.”So it’s basically like saying: what the hell? Got it. Related...'I Cancelled My Daughter's 16th After She Made This Joke. Did I Go Too Far?'If Your Daughter Is Called A 'Bop' At School, It's Not What You Think It MeansWhy The Last Of Us Nails The Very Real Struggle Of Giving Teens Their Space

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