Skinny Girl Walking Sideways

2021viral videodead

Published August 12, 2026

Skinny Girl Walking Sideways is an October 2021 TikTok trend built around a Chinese creator turning sideways to squeeze past pedestrians as a way to prove how thin she is. TikTokers pushed the clip into ironic territory by overlaying text about 'skinny things' like ordering lettuce on a cheeseburger.

body image memestiktok memesironic memeschinese origin memesparticipatory video memes

Overview

Skinny Girl Walking Sideways is a TikTok trend from October 2021 built around a Chinese creator angling her body sideways to slip through narrow gaps as a way to prove how thin she is2. The clips picked up ironic attention, with users overlaying text about 'skinny things' like ordering lettuce on a burger or eating a salad on top of her footage4.

The format is visual and short. A person turns fully sideways in a gap between a wall and another pedestrian, or between a mall escalator and the wall next to it, and squeezes through a space most people would not try1. The earnest brag flipped into a running joke on the app, played as absurd rather than impressive6.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok
Creator
@mnmnooxx0
Date
2021

The trend traces back to TikTok user @mnmnooxx0, who in early October 2021 uploaded a clip of herself side-stepping past a pedestrian on a sidewalk2. She deleted the video in mid-October before its view count could be tracked, but the earliest known repost came from @willkime on October 11th, 2021, which pulled roughly 2 million plays and 56,400 likes over the following month1.

@mnmnooxx0 followed with a second clip showing her squeezing between a mall escalator and the wall next to it2. She briefly took both videos down before reuploading them on October 22nd, 2021, with the escalator version drawing about 77,900 plays and 2,000 likes over the next two weeks4.

How It Spread

The clips hit much bigger audiences once high-profile accounts stitched them. TikTok star Khaby Lame posted a stitch of the escalator clip on October 9th, 2021, that racked up around 45.9 million plays and 5.1 million likes inside a month3. On October 15th, @yoleendadong posted another stitch that pulled about 4.1 million plays and 647,100 likes4.

The ironic wave kicked off on October 18th, 2021, when @ethanp0iss0n uploaded the first known parody sidestep and drew roughly 2.9 million plays6. A day later, @nmillz1 posted a TikTok pointing out that @mnmnooxx0 had scrubbed all her videos in response to the attention, and that clip alone hit 3.9 million plays and 865,800 likes5.

Text-overlay jokes carried the format into November. On October 25th, 2021, @arielomggg captioned the escalator video 'Me after getting lettuce on my cheese burger'7, and by November 11th, 2021, roughly 10,700 TikToks used the sound from the original clip3.

How to Use This Meme

The format typically involves either recreating the sidestep by turning fully sideways to squeeze through a narrow gap, or overlaying text on the original @mnmnooxx0 clip that pairs the sidestep with a 'skinny' punchline like ordering lettuce on a burger or asking for a salad4. Reposts often use the same TikTok audio pulled from the original video3.

Frequently Asked Questions

Skinny Girl Walking Sideways

2021viral videodead

Published August 12, 2026

Skinny Girl Walking Sideways is an October 2021 TikTok trend built around a Chinese creator turning sideways to squeeze past pedestrians as a way to prove how thin she is. TikTokers pushed the clip into ironic territory by overlaying text about 'skinny things' like ordering lettuce on a cheeseburger.

body image memes tiktok memes ironic memes chinese origin memes participatory video memes

Overview

Skinny Girl Walking Sideways is a TikTok trend from October 2021 built around a Chinese creator angling her body sideways to slip through narrow gaps as a way to prove how thin she is2. The clips picked up ironic attention, with users overlaying text about 'skinny things' like ordering lettuce on a burger or eating a salad on top of her footage4.

The format is visual and short. A person turns fully sideways in a gap between a wall and another pedestrian, or between a mall escalator and the wall next to it, and squeezes through a space most people would not try1. The earnest brag flipped into a running joke on the app, played as absurd rather than impressive6.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok
Creator
@mnmnooxx0
Date
2021

The trend traces back to TikTok user @mnmnooxx0, who in early October 2021 uploaded a clip of herself side-stepping past a pedestrian on a sidewalk2. She deleted the video in mid-October before its view count could be tracked, but the earliest known repost came from @willkime on October 11th, 2021, which pulled roughly 2 million plays and 56,400 likes over the following month1.

@mnmnooxx0 followed with a second clip showing her squeezing between a mall escalator and the wall next to it2. She briefly took both videos down before reuploading them on October 22nd, 2021, with the escalator version drawing about 77,900 plays and 2,000 likes over the next two weeks4.

How It Spread

The clips hit much bigger audiences once high-profile accounts stitched them. TikTok star Khaby Lame posted a stitch of the escalator clip on October 9th, 2021, that racked up around 45.9 million plays and 5.1 million likes inside a month3. On October 15th, @yoleendadong posted another stitch that pulled about 4.1 million plays and 647,100 likes4.

The ironic wave kicked off on October 18th, 2021, when @ethanp0iss0n uploaded the first known parody sidestep and drew roughly 2.9 million plays6. A day later, @nmillz1 posted a TikTok pointing out that @mnmnooxx0 had scrubbed all her videos in response to the attention, and that clip alone hit 3.9 million plays and 865,800 likes5.

Text-overlay jokes carried the format into November. On October 25th, 2021, @arielomggg captioned the escalator video 'Me after getting lettuce on my cheese burger'7, and by November 11th, 2021, roughly 10,700 TikToks used the sound from the original clip3.

How to Use This Meme

The format typically involves either recreating the sidestep by turning fully sideways to squeeze through a narrow gap, or overlaying text on the original @mnmnooxx0 clip that pairs the sidestep with a 'skinny' punchline like ordering lettuce on a burger or asking for a salad4. Reposts often use the same TikTok audio pulled from the original video3.

Frequently Asked Questions