Entertainment
Skibidi, When The Walls Fell: The Ongoing Problem With Star Trek’s Contemporary Slang
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Starfleet Academy, the latest Star Trek spinoff, has proven to be controversial for many reasons. One of them is the use of profanity-laced modern language, all of which sounds wildly jarring coming out of 32nd-century mouths. This is clearly Paramount’s desperate attempt to appeal to modern audiences, but diehard fans and even Trek icon Robert Picardo keep going out of their way to make excuses for the inclusion of this slang-filled language.
However, the blunt truth is that the character’s use of contemporary language makes no sense, and I can definitively prove it. What are the excuses fanboys have been making, and why are they wrong? Why does the use of such language contradict long-established lore, and why is it bad for Star Trek as a whole? Keep reading to find out!
The Universal Translator Explanation
Before we really dive into the problem with the modern language on Starfleet Academy, I figured we’d discuss the most common excuses that fans have made for it. Perhaps the most prevalent excuse is that Star Trek’s famous Universal Translator is working for the benefit of the audience watching at home. That is, these characters are likely speaking some sort of otherwise indecipherable space slang to one another, and the UT is conveniently translating that to modern speech for the viewers.
As excuses go, this is a fun one, and it gets full points for integrating the franchise’s most famous technology. But at its heart, this claim is more of an explanation rather than a justification. In other words, it explains why we might hear characters like Caleb casually discuss “toilet wine,” but it doesn’t really justify why that language is in the show.
That’s basically the crux of the matter here: Star Trek fans can sit around all day awarding each other No-Prizes for efforts to explain why the 32nd-century Starfleet cadets talk like 21st-century zoomers. But the core issue is that this modern language in a futuristic show is distractingly jarring, robbing otherwise moving scenes of any real drama even as it instantly dates the show.
The “Kids Will Be Kids” Excuse
The other major justification for Starfleet Academy dialogue being overly modern is that the characters are young and don’t speak like the more seasoned veterans of the franchise. Even Robert Picardo (who reprises his role as the Doctor for this show) offered this up as an excuse in a recent interview with Collider. There, he noted that “the cadets talk like kids in the present-day world and in their own vernaculars” and that they would need to learn to code-switch into the kind of “mid-galactic speech” necessary for “marshaling an argument in a diplomatic situation.”
There are two basic problems with this argument: the most obvious is that Star Trek has had plenty of younger, non-Starfleet characters (including Wesley Crusher, Jake Sisko, early Nog, and even Naomi Wildman) who didn’t speak almost exclusively in then-modern slang. If they had, we might have had Jake describe his latest story as “all that and a bag of chips,” or Nog describing how Starfleet Academy is “the bomb.” Heck, how did Voyager even make it seven seasons without anyone telling Captain Janeway, “You go, girl!”
You know that instant cringe you felt upon reading that? That’s just a small taste of how contemporary slang can ruin Star Trek stories that are meant to be timeless. Now, just think how goofy you will feel hearing Starfleet Academy characters using phrases like “I’m Khionian, b*tch!” and “nah, she chose the War College, bruh” in about 10 years.
The other problem with Picardo’s defense of the contemporary language is that the older characters on the show also talk like this. Chancellor Ake, for example, tells Nus Braka to “blow it out your a**,” and Cadet Master Lura Thok describes a situation as a “dumpster fire.” Heck, in the same episode, Picardo was helping to hype up, his character says that “speech and debate is not for the chickensh*t.”
Long story, not very short? The “kids will be kids” excuse doesn’t really work for the modern language on Starfleet Academy when we see the older characters using the exact same language, essentially proving that age will not magically cause Starfleet characters to stop talking like zoomers.
Why Profanity Should Be Relatively Rare In Star Trek
Now, time to address the elephant in the room, which is that Star Trek characters have used vulgar language before. Starfleet Academy didn’t magically introduce cursing to the franchise: Dr. McCoy is famous for his various “damn it, Jim,” phrases, and Kirk memorably said “Let’s get the hell out of here” at the end of “City on the Edge of Forever.” This level of mild cursing persisted through the golden age of Star Trek, and even Captain Picard once said “sh*t” (albeit in French) onscreen in an episode of The Next Generation.
However, Trek’s traditional use of vulgar language often reminds me of something my favorite professor once said. Much like the Doctor on Starfleet Academy, he was known to curse in class, and much like those hapless cadets, we asked him about why he spoke like that in the classroom. That was when he said something simple that has always stuck with me: “A gentleman never curses unintentionally.”
His point was that people shouldn’t blurt out foul language out of impulse or anger but should instead only use it for maximum impact in a conversation. This is why Star Trek saved its first “oh, sh*t” for Data when the Enterprise was about to crash in Generations: the rarity of the vulgarity and the extremity of the situation arguably merited the four-letter word. While it was used to increasingly weaker effect in NuTrek, the vulgarity (including F-bombs) in Discovery and Picard was generally spread out to maximize their rhetorical impact.
InStarfleet Academy, characters constantly call each other b*tch, use terms like “fish d*ck,” use “sh*t” as an adjective, and so on. The problem isn’t that Star Trek characters shouldn’t curse; rather, the problem is that if they do so all the time, the four-letter words lose any real meaning or power. Just like that, the vulgar language used to make these youthful characters sound more adult has them sounding like petulant children trying to show off!
Most Modern Profanity Should Be Completely Incomprehensible In The Future
Perhaps the biggest reason there shouldn’t be so much vulgar, modern language inStarfleet Academy goes back to one of the most popular movies in the franchise:Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. One of the best running gags in that movie is that Kirk and Spock didn’t really understand the vulgar language of the 20th century. This is why Kirk responds to someone calling him a “dumba**” with the memorable rejoinder “double dumba** on you!”
Later, Spock (who amusingly tries his hand at such language with phrases like “these are not the hell your whales”) describes such language as “colorful metaphors,” and Kirk says that profanity is “simply the way they talk here” (meaning the 20th century). He sums up his thoughts on the matter by saying that, in this relatively primitive time period that McCoy compares to the Dark Ages, “Nobody pays any attention to you if you don’t swear every other word.”
It’s not that Kirk didn’t know what these words meant, exactly; anyone with a fascination for the 20th century (like Captain Pike enjoying old sci-fi movies) would have a passing familiarity with profanity. But even minor variations on old slang (like putting “dumb” in front of “a**”) completely confused him. Furthermore, it was quite clear that the practice of constantly cursing to get someone’s attention was completely alien to him, someone born a couple of centuries later.
That’s the ultimate problem with the vulgarity in Starfleet Academy: rather than talking like 32nd-century characters who are studying to be the best of the best, they are swearing every other word like characters in the 20th century. Kirk himself identified this as behavior so archaic that visitors from the 23rd century can barely understand the vulgar phrases people are saying. But in Starfleet Academy, characters alive nearly a millennium later are constantly cursing like sailors and generally reminding us how much this franchise has regressed.
Star Trek fans, it’s time to get real: the distractingly modern dialogue has already dated Starfleet Academy, and the constant cursing makes no sense within the canon of the franchise. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the show on its own merits, but it’s far past time the fandom stops making excuses for poor writing. The bottom line is that this show doesn’t sound like Star Trek on any level, making it increasingly difficult for anyone who has seen a single episode of The Original Series or The Next Generation to take any of this very seriously.
Or, to put this in a way that the writers of Trek’s newest series might understand: “Kurtzman and Paramount at the Rizzing. Skibidi, when the subscribers fell!”
Entertainment
How to contact Amazon customer service during your Big Spring Sale shopping spree
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Another Amazon sale is upon us. The Big Spring Sale returns for its third year in a row in 2026 and runs from March 25-31.
With new deals dropping all week long, shopping can get pretty overwhelming. We know all too well that it’s easy to get caught up in the sales, indulge in some impulse purchasing, and experience a little buyer’s remorse. No judgment.
As with every major Amazon sale, deals started popping off ahead of the official event kickoff, and there are lots more to come. If you run into some questions or concerns during your shopping journey — from classic cases of buyer’s remorse to damaged packages to Prime membership questions — it’s good to know that you can actually speak to customer service.
Since contacting Amazon can be tricky at times, here are all the ways you can get in touch with customer service for a smoother online shopping experience before, during, and after the Big Spring Sale:
Amazon customer service help page
This is probably the most common and easiest way to look for answers to common queries, such as those about Amazon’s return policies or information about international shipping. The page contains a whole library of questions that users can get answers to, including how to track packages, cancel orders, or start a return. Your most recent purchases will pop up at the top of the page for easy navigation.
To access Amazon’s Customer Service Help Page, go to the website landing page and click on “Customer Service” in the top left of the screen.
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Amazon customer service email
Sometimes customer queries need to be worked through on a case-by-case basis, and the answers on the official website need to be more specific to offer any help to shoppers. In these cases, users can email [email protected] and explain their issues. Remember that contacting Amazon’s customer service via email might not be the best solution if you have an urgent question regarding your purchases, since customers are unlikely to get a prompt response.
Amazon customer service phone number
Need a quicker reply? Call Amazon at 1-888-280-4331. When customers call this number, a bot picks up the phone and eventually connects them to Amazon staff, depending on the type of query that needs to be answered. It’s important to note that customers should have a cell phone number connected to their Amazon account. Customers must enter verification codes that will be messaged to their linked contact information before using this service. In other words, things can get a bit tricky if you’re sharing an account with someone else.
Amazon online chat service
Real-time chatting with Amazon representatives is the most convenient way to get all your questions answered. To use the live chat feature, return to the Customer Service help page and click on “Help with something else.” When the list pops up underneath, choose “something else” once again. Another page opens with a list of more help options. Select “I need help with something else.”
Now you’ve officially entered the chat. Type “Talk to associate” in the chat box. Amazon’s messaging assistant might prompt you to give more info on your issue, which you can, but if you’d rather get to a real person ASAP, you can select “I need more help” from the pre-written responses.
From there, you can choose if you’d prefer to talk via chat or call. If you’re looking for immediate help with a Prime Day purchase — be it due to buyer’s remorse, a damaged package, an address change, etc. — this is your best bet to get your needs met.
For simple questions, Amazon’s AI chat feature (launched in 2024) called “Rufus” can help customers solve some problems and make more informed purchase decisions.
If your questions aren’t that urgent, you can contact Amazon Customer Service at @amazonhelp on X, @amazon on Instagram, and www.facebook.com/Amazon on Facebook.
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Entertainment
IKEA released a smart version of its viral Varmblixt donut lamp — I tried it
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In 2023, the internet was ablaze with IKEA’s Varmblixt lamp, aka the viral donut lamp. If you were among the crowd trekking to IKEA, attempting to find the donut lamp in stock, we’ve got some news for you — there’s a new version of the lamp to covet. At CES 2026, IKEA unveiled a smart version of its viral donut lamp. Now you can enjoy the same shape lamp in a whole new array of colors.
As the owner of an OG Varmblixt lamp, I’ve been waiting for the smart version to drop, and it’s finally here. And I got to go hands-on with the new donut lamp to see what it’s all about.
About the IKEA Varmblixt lamp
The OG Varmblixt lamp has the donut design, encased in a warm orange glass shade.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The IKEA Varmblixt lamp first debuted in 2023, designed by Dutch artist Sabine Marcelis. Operating as either a table or wall lamp, the Varmblixt is crafted from orange glass, bringing gorgeous ambient glow to any room.
Differences between the OG and smart Varmblixt lamp
The new Varmblixt lamp has a glowing white light, compared to the warm orange of the original lamp.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
With the Varmblixt lamp getting the smart upgrade, it’s a slight departure from the original. The Varmblixt still has the same donut shape and can still be installed as a table or wall lamp. However, unlike the OG, it’s no longer orange. Instead, the updated smart Varmblixt has a matte white glass finish. The color instead comes from the inside with a color-changing bulb. The old Varmblixt has a simple on/off switch, while the new version has a remote to adjust the lamp’s color and brightness. Plus, the smart Varmblixt is a Matter device, meaning it will connect to any smart home hub.
How does the new Varmblixt lamp work?
The new Varmblixt doesn’t look as exciting from the outside with its white base. But once you turn on the lamp, you can adjust the color and brightness with the included remote.
Using the Varmblixt required a bit more trial and error than I anticipated because, as I should have expected, IKEA’s instructions were sparse. You don’t need a smart home hub to operate the Varmblixt, although it will connect to yours if you have one.
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In classic IKEA fashion, the remote didn’t come with explanation of its controls.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
If you don’t have a smart hub (or even if you do), use the included remote to turn the lamp on or off, adjust the color, and adjust the brightness. IKEA doesn’t provide instructions on which remote buttons do what. Luckily for you, I struggled through some trial-and-error, so you don’t need to.
The remote has two buttons, marked by a large dot and a small dot. To change the lamp’s color, double-click the large or small button. The large button moves you forward through the color wheel, but you can move back if you skip over a color you like, using the small button. To dim the light, hold the small button; to increase the brightness, hold the large button.
You can swap the Varmblixt bases
A cool feature of all Varmblixt lamps is that the base and glass shades are swappable. So, potentially, I could move the smart base to my existing orange shade, a huge boon for smart home aficionados who want to turn on the Varmblixt with their smart home hub.
How does the new Varmblixt look?
While the OG Varmblixt lamp embraced the warm, orange tones, the new smart version is notably cooler. The matte white shade is quite stark and bright, so to warm it up, adjust the color toward orange or red hues.
The full smart Varmblixt color range.
Credit: IKEA
The color palette of the Varmblixt is not as extensive as you’ll find in other smart light bulbs that let you choose from millions of hues. The IKEA colors are preprogrammed and tend to be cooler pastel shades. It’s a definite departure from the warmth of the original Varmblixt. Luckily, if you’re not into the cool pastels, the OG orange lamp is available.
Will I be swapping the new Varmblixt for the old?
While I don’t love the cool tone of the new Varmblixt lamp, I see its potential.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The new smart Varmblixt lamp is a fun progression in the lamp’s lineup, but will I be swapping out my own? Probably not. We’re not big into smart home in my house, so I don’t get the benefit of its Matter connectivity. And while I like the new colors, I still prefer the OG’s warm orange shade that adds an ambient glow to my house. While I could see myself incorporating the new smart Varmblixt elsewhere in my home, it’s not going to take the OG’s spotlight.
Do I think the new light is worth it? Certainly. Especially for those excited about its smart home potential.
Entertainment
Kathy Hilton Shares the Style Rule She Passed Down to Paris and Nicky: 'You Don’t Need the Whole Kitchen Sink'
Less really is more, just ask Kathy Hilton.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star spilled the effortlessly chic beauty and style tips she passed down to daughters Paris, 45, and Nicky, 42, while hosting a fête for LoveShackFancy’s Sweetheart fragrance at her Bel Air, California home on March 20.
Though Hilton loves a glamorous moment (and throws a party like no other), she’s all about keeping things polished, and never overdone.
“A classic rule I’ve told Paris and Nicky is to be comfortable. I’d rather be a little underdressed than overdressed because you can always throw on fun earrings or change your shoes if you’re leaving work or getting off a plane,” she tells ET.
“You don’t want to come in with the whole kitchen sink and make a fool out of yourself. Dim it down a little bit. Just be fresh, pretty, and confident. That’s the best,” the entrepreneur continues.
Naturally, the mother-daughter trio shares more than just style advice, they share closets too.
“They can’t wear my shoes because I have a smaller foot, but they wear my jewelry, my accessories, and my handbags. … I recently borrowed a bag that was so cute from Paris. She was calling every day saying, ‘I’m going to come by and get my bag.’ … She knows her inventory and doesn’t forget, but I’m happy that she takes care of her things and that she’s appreciative,” the Bravo star says.
When it comes to what Hilton actually keeps in her purse, she leans into easy and practical items.
“I carry an eye mask that I found years ago at a drugstore in New York, pale pink silicone foot pads for comfort, my little fan, and my Lorna Murray hat because it gives an outfit a great look, makes me look a little bit taller, and keeps the sun off my face,” she explains.
“I’m also always trying the latest and newest product to moisturize my lips because they’re chronically dry, and I love the Revive neck cream and can’t put on makeup without it.”
Beyond her essentials, one thing Hilton never leaves the house without is a signature spritz.
“I spray my perfume at the end, but I make sure I don’t have pearls on. … I have a collection of fragrances. … There are ones I would wear to a ladies’ lunch, and others that are romantic and sexy that I would wear after 5 p.m. for dinner with my husband.”
Luckily, her current favorite works for just about any occasion.
“Sweetheart is so fruity and floral, and the bottle is the pinkest, most sparkly, and gorgeous. … It’s perfect for spring and summer because it’s happiness in a bottle. … I like to bring a little bit of summer everywhere I go. … Hot girl summer every day, even in the winter,” Rebecca Hessel Cohen, founder of LoveShackFancy, notes.
“It can take you anywhere. … It’s so beautiful that you want to just hold it or keep it on your dressing table,” Hilton continues.
Still, there is one area where Hilton doesn’t hold back: health and wellness.
“I do Tru Niagen IV treatments every week and take two of their supplements every day to give me energy. … I’m a mad professor with putting things together. I always have my lotions and potions, and everyone loves it. … My girls are very into it and it’s fun to compare notes.”
Through it all though, her philosophy stays grounded.
“I’ve always mixed high and low. I’m as happy at Target and Walmart as I am on the seventh floor of Bergdorf Goodman.”
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