The Elbow Thing

2022slang / catchphrasedead

Published September 24, 2026

The Elbow Thing is a TikTok slang term referring to an unspecified sexual technique involving the elbow. It emerged in April 2022 and saw a major resurgence in September 2022, with videos either celebrating people who "know" the technique or joking that it means elbow-slamming someone in bed.

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Overview

The Elbow Thing, also called the Elbow Method, is TikTok slang for a vague sexual technique supposedly involving the elbow1. The term gained attention because videos about it deliberately avoided explaining what it actually meant, leaving viewers confused and curious. This ambiguity became the joke itself, with creators posting videos celebrating partners who "know the elbow thing" without ever clarifying what that entails2.

One popular explanation suggested the Elbow Thing refers to women using their elbows to push their breasts together to make them appear larger1. However, this interpretation doesn't match videos showing women praising men who know the technique. The disconnect between explanations and video content led many to suspect the whole trend was fabricated specifically to confuse people2.

The term is similar to other vague TikTok sexual references like "the Belly Press Thing" and "the Knee Thing," both of which also rely on innuendo without clear definitions1.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok
Date
2022

TikTokers began posting videos referencing the Elbow Thing in April 2022. On April 30th, 2022, TikToker @mackdadey posted a video asking "For the love of god can someone tell me what the elbow thing is," collecting over 178,000 views1. By May, more creators were posting similar confused or knowing references to the mysterious technique.

In July 2022, TikToker @imafairybjtch attempted to explain the trend, claiming it meant pushing breasts together with the elbows to enhance appearance1. This explanation gained over 300,000 views, but whether it accurately described what all the other videos were referencing remained unclear.

How It Spread

The Elbow Thing saw a major resurgence in September 2022. On September 5th, TikToker @breckiehill posted a video captioned "Boy that know the elbow thing" with a "call me" hand gesture, reaching over 8 million views1. The video provided zero context about what the technique involved, fueling more confusion and parody.

By late September, the trend split into two directions. On September 23rd, TikToker @josephgarratt posted a lip-dub video set to Armaan Malik's "How Many" celebrating when "she knows how to do the elbow thing," which got 2.2 million views1. Two days later, TikToker @afroismassive duetted the video by demonstrating the supposed "elbow method" as aggressively slamming a pillow with her elbow, earning 3.5 million views1.

The elbow-slamming joke took off in October. On October 3rd, TikToker @caelyncashews posted a duet claiming the elbow thing meant "beating a guy with your elbows," which reached 12.7 million views1. Dexerto published an article on October 11th attempting to explain the trend1. By late October, @caelyncashews' video hit Reddit's r/Unexpected, where it earned over 16,700 upvotes1. Some creators argued the whole thing was fake, a trend designed purely to make people curious about something that didn't exist2.

Frequently Asked Questions