About

Upper Decky Zynnies, Upper Decky Lip Pillows Ferda is a catchphrase that went viral on TikTok in the fall of 2022. The phrase is comprised of several slang terms that include "zynies" or "zynnies" meaning Zyn brand nicotine pouches, "upper decky lip pillows" meaning nicotine pouches held under one's top lip, and "ferda," which is a slang term meaning "for the boys." The various words and phrases in the sentence are often associated with frat culture and hockey culture.

Origin

On August 23rd, 2022, TikToker^[1] @cheddy222 posted a video reciting a sing-song series of phrases that were as follows, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could rip upper decky zynnies, upper decky lip pillows, ferda, ferda!" The video gathered over 3 million plays and over 300,000 likes in nearly two months (seen below).

The phrase "upper decky zynnies" refers to a specific brand of snus or pouch nicotine called "Zyn" that are placed against one's gum behind the top lip (hence, upper decky). These pouches of nicotine are also called "lip pillows," as mentioned in the following line, "upper decky lip pillows." The phrase "Ferda" likely emerged from an episode of the YouTube show turned TV series Letterkenny. Episode four of season eight of the show was named "Ferda," which is hockey slang meaning "for the boys."

Spread

The aforementioned phrases and @cheddy222's audio soon went viral on college frat and hockey TikTok communities, with different people flexing their knowledge of knowing what each word meant, or expressing their confusion about what these phrases meant.

The earliest known viral video of a person using the sound came from TikToker ^[2] @scottie202 on September 20th, 2022. The user posted a video using the sound and a text overlay that read, "please remove your caps for the national anthem." The post gathered over 700,000 plays and 99,000 likes in nearly three weeks (seen below, left). On September 24th, 2022, TikToker ^[3] @macaronecheese posted a video of two people using Zyn brand nicotine pouches alongside a caption that read, "upper decky and lower decky." The post gathered over 2.3 million plays and 200,000 likes in nearly three weeks (seen below, left).

Other popular videos were made by women lampooning the way that frat boys and hockey boys speak. On September 28th, 2022, TikToker ^[4] @ashlandmackenzie posted a video with a text overlay that read, "POV: You're hanging out with a guy for the first time since your 3 year relationship ended." The video gathered over 2.3 million plays and over 300,000 likes in nearly two weeks (seen below, left). Also on September 28th, TikToker ^[5] @amandasnumber1fanplease posted a video joking about cringe fraternity lingo, gathering over 2 million plays and 300,000 likes in nearly two weeks (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References