The Frat Flick: An old dance move gets a new name on TikTok
The Frat Flick is a TikTok dance that involves extending one’s fingers and flicking the wrist in the air to the beat of the music. It’s most often performed by young, college-going men who may or may not be members of a fraternity, though it has already escaped that demographic as individuals of other groups imitate the dance move.
Although some have described this as a “new” dance, it strongly resembles the kind of move that drunk college students have performed at parties for decades, especially among those without the confidence to do a more complicated routine.
What is the Frat Flick?
TikTok’s new favorite dance move consists of little more than putting one’s hand in the air with a couple of fingers sticking out and jerking or flicking them to the rhythm of whatever song is playing as the individual generally vibes with the beat.
@deerockmusic This guy’s keeping it alive #college #fyp #frat #edm ♬ original sound - Deerockmusic
This is often paired in TikTok videos with “shotgunning” an alcoholic drink. This refers to the act of forming a hole in a can and pouring it down one’s throat to consume it as rapidly as possible.
Where did it come from?
It’s impossible to pinpoint the invention date of the move but the term itself seemed to emerge around late 2023.
By November of that year, TikTokers were already making videos declaring the move an “epidemic” and a “contagious disease,” indicating that people were getting tired of seeing it. One of the most popular of these came from the account @caitie.hall, who posted their video on November 26, 2023.
@caitie.hall a contagious disease ???????? #fratflick ♬ Star Spangled (Bass Boosted) - SNC
The Frat Flick spreads
Videos referencing this dance move and showing examples of it in the wild continued to pop up throughout 2024, spreading to women in bars and attendees of concerts across the U.S. and beyond.
In August, the specific trend emerged in which TikTok users would film themselves shotgunning a drink before doing the Frat Flick, sometimes with a backflip or other cooler move in between. User @whoisjayren posted one of the earliest of these videos on August 2.
@whoisjayren Im lost in the sauce @Gawayne #fypage #viral #fratflick #druski #winterwarrior ♬ original sound - DONJAMES
Are they serious?
A lot of people doing the Frat Flick on TikTok—perhaps the majority—are clearly being ironic when they're bobbing about and flicking their wrists to music. Often, the idea is to mock drunken college students, particularly frat bros, who can't really dance so they have to resort to something simple like this move in order to appear to be partying at all.
Of course, it's no crime to be struggling with keeping a beat or drinking too much to engage in complex dancing. Plenty of people are sincerely vibing when they do the Frat Flick, and that's okay. As long as you're having a good time and drinking responsibly.
Frat Flick examples
@povbrookewyatt macklemore CORE!
♬ murder on the dance floor sped up - ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇx
@daltonmauldin5 Go DJ, thats my DJ! ???? #fratflick #frattok #tiktokmusic #wreck #presave #linkinbio #daltonmauldin #baseballboys #baseballtok #musiciantok #indiepop #popmusic #harrystyles #justinbieber #lany #surfaces ♬ wreck by dalton mauldin out jan 5th - Dalton Mauldin
@rgwoo #bidday #fratflick @brooklyn???? ♬ Came Here for Love - Sigala & Ella Eyre
@cadecampenella Only way to enjoy Frozen sing along???????? #fratflick #fyp #foryoupage #viral #disney #hollywoodstudios ♬ original sound - Cade Campenella
@thenicwest take me back to college #fratflick #college ♬ Came Here for Love - Sigala & Ella Eyre
Related trends:
- Jessica Alba goes viral for ‘Savage’ TikTok dance moves
- ‘TCU what in the hell’: People call out sorority recruitment TikTok dance for cultural appropriation
- ‘Nailed it @bernie,’ Bernie Sanders accidentally stumbles into TikTok dance
- Why this TikTok ‘hand trend’ is suddenly everywhere
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