hella fellow kids

July 2, 2024 2:46 PM

what does this mean?

i heard it. doesn't make sense

posted by HearHere to Society & Culture (11 answers total)

Probably related to "How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?"
posted by zamboni at 2:47 PM on July 2 [11 favorites]

Agree that it sounds like the abovementioned meme, which refers to 40something(?) Steve Buscemi pretending to be a highschooler. Here's an article about the meme from 2017 arguing that it is played out and overused.
posted by mskyle at 2:53 PM on July 2 [2 favorites]

Origin
posted by pracowity at 2:55 PM on July 2 [1 favorite]

Best answer: To be clear, the punctuation would then be "hella 'fellow kids,'" as in "[This thing] is very reminiscent of the 'fellow kids' meme."
posted by teremala at 3:21 PM on July 2 [11 favorites]

If I heard something that sounded like this I would first think what was actually being said was "hello, fellow kids" by someone slightly mis-quoting/mis-remembering the above-mentioned Steve Buscemi meme.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:41 PM on July 2 [5 favorites]

"...arguing that [the meme] is played out and overused."

*GASP*

Flagged for offensive content. I was talking about it with one of my kids within the last 36 hours.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:12 PM on July 2 [9 favorites]

Here's an article about the meme from 2017 arguing that it is played out and overused.

Having read Kaitlyn Tiffany's book, I wouldn't take her word on anything outside a very narrow sphere; additionally, going by Trends, we hadn't yet hit peak fellow kids in back 2017.

I agree with teremala, depending on the context, it means This reminds me of the Steve Buscemi meme.

(I often describe Metafilter as a place where Fellow Kids meet the Onion Belters.)
posted by betweenthebars at 5:27 PM on July 2 [1 favorite]

To be clear, the punctuation would then be "hella 'fellow kids,'" as in "[This thing] is very reminiscent of the 'fellow kids' meme."

Hella also stands in for “many” so could mean “there are a lot of old people trying to act like they’re young here.”
posted by vunder at 5:41 PM on July 2 [5 favorites]

FWIW I wasn’t necessarily agreeing with the Verge article, more just using it to point out that the meme has been around for a long time.
posted by mskyle at 7:36 PM on July 2 [1 favorite]

Hella means "very" in the Oakland California dialect of African American Vernacular English
"How do you do, Fellow Kids" is the Steve Buscemi meme.

So "Hella "Fellow Kids"" I would think means "This thing is very cheesy and off-tone, similar to an out-of-touch undercover cop messing up while trying to co-opt youthful slang."
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:04 PM on July 5 [1 favorite]

Mod note: One comment removed. Please focus on helping the OP instead of scolding them.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 8:03 AM on July 6