New TikTok challenge: Try not to laugh.
Screenshot by Abrar Al-Heeti/CNET
In addition to creating new trends, TikTok has a way of reviving older content, too. Such is the case with one of the most popular sounds on the social video app right now, in which glass shatters and a child says, “Oh no! Our table! It’s broken!”
Where did this sound come from and how are people on TikTok using it? Here’s everything to know.
What’s the original video?
The sound originates from a video which was apparently featured on ABC television show America’s Funniest Home Videos. It shows a child stacking bricks on a glass table (who knows why), which then shatters under the weight. Startled, the boy springs away from the table, looking on in dismay as he says the now iconic line: “Oh no! Our table! It’s broken!”
Here’s a clip of the original:
@chefsbrim Reply to @valleysuperstar ##meme##viral##fyp
♬ original sound – mama chef
According to Know Your Meme, the clip aired on America’s Funniest Home Videos in February 2016, and was uploaded to the show’s YouTube and Vine accounts. On Vine, the clip garnered more than 970,000 loops and 19,800 likes.
The video started becoming popular on TikTok in December 2020, but really picked up steam in July 2021 after the original video was uploaded by user @chefsbrim. The sound pulled from that clip has been used in more than 632,000 videos on the platform.
How are people using the sound?
In September, some TikTok users started posting videos of themselves moving parts of their face, like their temple or dimple, to the sounds of the clip. For example:
@issajanis oh no the table is broken😩 #fyp#FlauntItChallenge#ourtable
♬ oh no our table – mama chef
@uglyboyant♬ oh no our table – mama chef
Most recently, TikTokers have turned the sound into a challenge in which they try to record over the audio without laughing. Most people aren’t successful, bursting into laugher once the boy in the original video starts talking.
@imnotyournicegirl It’s hard yallll it’s the little boy bruh #fyp#viral
♬ oh no our table – mama chef
@fuityloopa♬ oh no our table – mama chef
@maxtaylorlifts it’s impossible
♬ oh no our table – mama chef
@miantwins I guess we know who has no emotions @brycehall @nate_wyatt
♬ oh no our table – mama chef
@nattyjamesofficial 😐😐😐
♬ oh no our table – mama chef
Some users have also uploaded their own videos of broken items along with the sound.
One clip that’s perfectly timed with the audio shows a dog crashing into and shattering a glass table.
@lockedinout Oh No
♬ oh no our table – mama chef
And a video from @tooffarie shows her using a laptop that’s falling apart but somehow still works.
@tooffarie 🤨 ##wattpad
♬ oh no our table – mama chef
If you’re still not sure why this is a trend, some TikTok users aren’t quite sure either. As one person put it in a comment, “My humor is as broken as that table.”