Which is "Bouba", and which is "Kiki"? [video]

Tom Scott finally tackled the internet’s favorite mind trick: the “bouba–kiki” effect, where most people match the soft sound “bouba” to a blobby shape and the sharp “kiki” to something spiky. The comments instantly split into teams and hot takes. One camp brought receipts: links to the Wikipedia explainer and an Instagram demo flew in, while language nerds name‑dropped Gretchen McCulloch and cheered the deeper science behind it. Another camp waved it off with a shrug: it’s obvious, they said — B’s are round, K’s are pointy, end of story.

That clash lit up the thread. The “this changes how we think” crowd argued that sound symbolism — the idea that certain sounds feel round or sharp — is gaining serious evidence and could reshape how we talk about how the brain links sounds, shapes, and movement. The skeptics fired back that it’s just letter shapes messing with our heads. Meanwhile, the comedy faction stole the show: “the Fourier transform is a bouba‑kiki transform,” one quip declared, earning nerd‑laughs and groans in equal measure. Verdict? No consensus, just maximum vibe — with Tom playing ringmaster while the internet duked it out over blobs and spikes. And everyone had fun arguing.