Erm, What the Sigma?

Submission 24,375

Part of a series on Erm... What the Deuce. [View Related Entries]

About

Erm, What the Sigma? also known as Um, What the Sigma? refers to a viral audio with a voice resembling Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants saying "What the sigma?" The catchphrase riffs on the precursor Erm… What the Deuce. The original video spread on TikTok in early 2024, recording a person's Instagram voice message. Also, an overstimulation video with Squidward and SpongeBob looking at an ice cream cone spread with the audio in which SpongeBob responds, "Bro."

Origin

On March 4th, 2024, TikToker^[8] @lawfreeza posted a video of voice messages on Instagram with text reading, "Is this rizz." The first voice is heard saying, "You're not fucking funny and you're corny…" The second voice replies, "Erm, what the sigma?" Over one month, the video received roughly 144,900 plays and 30,900 likes (shown below).

You're not fucking funny and you're corny. So, um, literally stop sending me voice messages 'cause they're not funny actually.
Erm, what the sigma?

Spread

On March 5th, 2024, TikToker^[1] @annamae_83 reposted the video, adding a Red Circle to highlight the speaker's resemblance to Squidward. Over one month, the TikTok received roughly 9.2 million plays and 1.5 million likes (shown below).

The video's sound^[2] amassed usage soon after it went viral. For instance, TikToker^[3] @ghrievance posted an animation with the sound on March 5th, 2024, receiving over 101,100 plays and 8,500 likes in a month (shown below, left).

On March 6th, 2024, TikToker^[4] @5starvelocity made a fancam edit for Squidward using the original video, gaining over 36,500 plays and 2,000 likes in a month (shown below, right).

On April 1st, 2024, TikToker^[5] @huugh_mungus inserted the "Erm, What the Sigma?" sound into an Overstimulation Video of SpongeBob and Squidward reacting to an ice cream cone video (which was originally posted by YouTuber^[6] XDMEME in October 2023). In the video, SpongeBob responds to Squidward, saying, "Bro." Over two days, the video received roughly 1.2 million plays and 180,100 likes (shown below, left).

The iteration inspired a new slew of posts, like one video shared by TikToker^[7] @kanyewestfan140 on April 2nd, gaining over 302,100 plays and 55,100 likes in a day (shown below, right).