What Does ‘Skill Issue’ Mean In Slang?

Teens are extremely efficient at coming up with insults, whether they’re calling you mid, referring to someone as Ohio, or branding you a celebrity’s choppelganger.

And if they mention that you – or someone they know – has a “skill issue”. Well, you can bet it’s not a compliment.

The term – which has been knocking around online since the early 2020s – actually derives from online gaming and is a popular way for gamers to ridicule struggling players.

Typically, if someone remarks it’s a “skill issue”, they’re implying that the reason that player lost the game or couldn’t get past a certain level is because of their lack of ability or skill. And the gaming phrase is being applied to real-life scenarios, too.

Failed an exam? Skill issue. Dropped and smashed your phone? Skill issue.

Know Your Meme (KYM) notes it’s also sometimes used ironically as a comment on situations where skill has nothing to do with a person’s loss. For example, a bug or glitch in the game led to someone losing.

Unsurprisingly, the phrase has the ability to rub people up the wrong way. Sharing a post on Reddit’s r/PetPeeves, one user asked others to “stop regurgitating” it.

In response, one Redditor admitted they use it at work “all the time” as it’s a “polite way of saying you’re bad”.

Another said: “Sometimes it’s all there is to say. It is rude though. In a vacuum when no other response has been given, it is definitely dismissive and rude, doesn’t really add anything.

“But if you’ve already explained everything, and whoever you are speaking with continues to give excuses beyond simple frustrations, then at times it is all that there is left to say…”

Among the youngest generations though, the meaning has evolved from pure snide to being a playful and good-natured way for them to make fun of someone.

Parents.com gave the example of if you were on a long drive and your car broke down, “your teen might quip ‘skill issue’”.

Ultimately, what they want it to mean will depend on the context and their tone. But if your teen uses it regularly and you can see it’s rubbing people up the wrong way, it’s worth a quick chat about the impact of their words and importance of kindness towards others.