If you’re an avid TikTok user, you might have spotted the ‘When the chile is tea but the finna is gag’ meme. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
The phrase “When the chile is tea but the finna is gag,” also known as “What the chile,” has gone viral as a bizarre combination of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and queer internet slang.
Originating from a mid-February 2025 tweet, the phrase has gained widespread traction on TikTok, accompanied by a soundbite of American singer Ethel Cain reading the original tweet. It has since inspired countless FlopTok memes and hilarious content.
‘When the chile is tea but the finna is gag’ origin
On February 15, 2025, X user yasscorrset posted a GIF of model Alex Consani paired with the caption:
“When the chile is tea but the finna is gag Sis im dead as a chile.”
The tweet combined AAVE and LGBTQ+ slang terms in a nonsensical sentence, gaining 128,700 views and 4,200 likes.
On February 27, American singer Ethel Cain read the tweet during a livestream, responding with, “mm girl, real.” A fan account shared the clip, which quickly amassed over 38,000 views and 1,800 likes on X. This audio clip then became a popular soundbite on TikTok.
‘What the chile’ meme goes viral on TikTok
The soundbite took TikTok by storm, especially within the FlopTok subcommunity, known for its satirical and niche internet humor.
For instance, on February 27, content creator heart2kie paired the phrase with clips of Alex Consani and other celebrities, earning over 113,000 likes and 410,000 views.
On March 1, TikTok user eev1ynn used the sound in a video titled “Me putting my bf onto my slang that I got from various niche internet moments.” It garnered over 211,000 views.
Meanwhile, on March 2, user s.harp07 wrote, “When the hg’s making no sense but our interlinkedness makes it make sense,” overlaying a video that received over 2.2 million views and more than 586,000 likes.
What does it mean?
The meme is deliberately nonsensical, satirizing the overuse or misuse of AAVE and LGBTQ+ slang in online spaces. Here’s what the terms mean:
- Chile: A southern AAVE term meaning “child.”
- Tea: Gossip or news.
- Finna: Slang for “going to.”
- Gag: Slang for intense amusement or excitement.
The absurd mix of slang has made the ‘When the chile is tea’ TikTok sound go viral, and so far, it has been used in almost 1,000 videos.
It’s just one of the many trends gaining traction on TikTok, alongside the popular ‘Artists who can sing vs artists who can’t’ meme and the “In a moment it could all bloom” Arcane trend.
Content shared from www.dexerto.com.