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One of the more versatile slangs making the rounds on TikTok over the past couple of years is “type shit” or “type shii.” You’ve probably heard the Gen Zalphas in your circles mumble it to each other, or even received it as a comment in one of your social media posts.
“Type shii” may be netizens’ favorite word at the moment, but it has existed offline for a while. Still, this AAVE phrase––like many other TikTok slang––is not straightforward, and its origin is a bit murkier than most.
What does “type shii” mean?
If you’re an avid Scrolling in the Deep reader, you’ve learned by now how slang eventually evolves into algospeak (using a SFW version to avoid being censored by social media apps.) Like fine shyt, type shit evolved into type shii in the 2020s, and even its original meaning seems to have warped.
Type shit was first used as a way to mean “like this type of stuff.” In other words, something characteristic of a given thing, person, or situation. For example, “on some Stranger Things-type shit.” But that’s not the meaning that has teens in a chokehold today.
Since 2024, Gen Zalpha has used “type shii” in myriad ways, with no particular concrete definition. They use it when agreeing with someone, answering in the affirmative, or just as punctuation. The clearest example of this is Duke Dennis.
Duke Dennis and type shii
Duke Dennis, a famous YouTuber and Twitch Streamer, is most associated with the slang. So much so that people began thinking he invented it. This prompted Dennis to post a video debunking this rumor and claiming he had no idea where it came from. However, he did provide a quick guide on how he uses “type shii.”
“I use type shit as a comma: ‘We went to the gym, type shit, we went to get something to eat, type shit’…kinda like a pause,” he said. “I use type shit at the end of a sentence: ‘I’m not leaving with that [expletive], type shit.’…I use it as a silence breaker. I use it in agreeance too.”
Basically, Dennis said he uses it “for everything.”
It appears “type shit” is now being used similarly to slangs like “bet” or “slay.” So if someone answers your question, you can say “Okay, type shii.” if someone’s telling you a story, you can show you’re listening by interjecting with “type shit.” If someone does something you approve of, holler “type shit” so they know you’re in accordance with them.
Where did it come from?
As Dennis mentioned, it is unclear who first used “type shit.” KnowYourMeme and Urban Dictionary both speculate that the word first popped up in 2010. But one person alleged that it originated in Memphis, Tennessee.
The podcast Onemoretimeplus posted a clip in April 2024 where rapper Duke Deuce suggested the slang started in 2013 in Memphis. Of course, this is difficult to confirm, but it’s safe to say type shit has been around way before Gen Alpha cleaned it up into a more TikTok-friendly version.
Still, while “type shit” has been used by rappers and the Black Community for at least a decade, it was only in 2024 that netizens began begging the young folks to leave the word behind.
“The phrase type shit needs to die,” TikTok influencer Undos posted in May 2024. “It’s rotting brains.” His clip earned more than 7.3 million views since then, so it seems a lot of people felt the same.
But Gen Zalpha is no stranger to brain rotting, so it’s only a matter of time before type shii makes way for something just as annoying.
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