Cryptic messages have begun appearing on TikTok, leaving users unsettled: 'Scariest thing I've ever seen'

People are typing gibberish into the comments section on TikTok, and what they find when they translate the nonsense is creeping them out.

User @whoaanellyy pointed out that if you comment some variation of “riririri” on a post and then long press on the comment (aka hold your finger down on the comment until a window pops up), the app will translate your keyboard smash — and the results are both mixed and ominous.

“This is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen on TikTok … Why is nobody talking about this … It’s so scary,” she wrote on her video. “If you type riririri, whatever spaces, and then translate the comment, it says really scary s***.”

Most of the comments on the video are, well, people typing variations of “riririri” and sharing their translations.

Here are some of the most unsettling translations:

• Which is the most important thing? This is the next full day. This is the second full day, where is it?

• It’s just a matter of time. It cries. It stands. It’s over. This is the next level.

• It cries out.

• This is the true story.

• This is the second time. Crying? What is the true meaning of life? It’s all about you.

• Suffering. Suffering. Suffering. Suffering. It’s all right.

People had theories about what all of this could mean.

“This is military code for when something isn’t OK, don’t freak out,” one user wrote.

“Are y’all summoning Rihanna?” another joked.

According to Google Translate, the word “riririri” and its variations could be translated as Maori — an endangered language spoken by one of the indigenous tribes of New Zealand.

The word “iririri,” on the other hand, is detected as Shona or Xhosa, one of the native languages of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

A sleuth from the publication Droid Harvest dug into the Maori dictionary, where they found that “riri” refers to “the expressions of anger, rage, fury, annoyance and the like.”

It’s also possible that this could be a glitch from TikTok itself that is dramatizing the translation.

As this trend’s popularity grows (and freaks out more and more users), we might start getting some answers from experts.

See also: Store-bought sides from Walmart+:

If you enjoyed this story, find out what “muñañyo” means.

More from In The Know:

This woman’s strategy to catch “disrespectful” partners in the act is evil genius

TikTok’s newest find is this high-shine lip color that’s completely smudge-proof

Woman praised for her no-nonsense response to her boyfriend’s gaslighting

Subscribe to our daily newsletter to stay In The Know

The post What does ‘riririri’ mean on TikTok? Users are spooked by ominous comments appeared first on In The Know.