The Spice Girls finally revealed what 'zig-a-zig-ah' really means
Wannabe amazed?
Can you believe it has been a whole twenty seven years since the Spice Girls burst into our lives with Wannabe?
Yes, it really has been almost three decades since Posh, Sporty, Scary, Baby and Ginger sparked a worldwide phenomenon known as Girl Power with that infamously chaotic and wonderful music video - plus a generous helping of enviable platforms and sass.
Who can forget Mel B's hearty laugh at the start? Those nineties dance moves on the hotel stairs? The fact that, until recently, we had no idea the rap actually details the girls' sexual preferences?
And they're not the only lyrics that have had us confused for years. Since 1996, people have speculated over the meaning of the now iconic line: 'I wanna zig-a-zig-ah.'
Although plenty of people believed it was consistent with the raps sexual undertones, dubbing it a euphemism for an orgasm, it turns out that couldn't actually be further from the truth.
So while every Spice Girls fan out there has been wondering what the hell 'I wanna zig-a-zig-ah' really means, we have the answer. But that doesn't mean it's going to make complete sense.
One of Wannabe's co-writers revealed that it was inspired by a saying on set: 'Shit and cigars.' Apparently, the Spice Girls shared a recording studio in Shoreditch with a famous musician and decided to give said celebrity this nickname.
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Why? Well the anonymous co-writer told The Sun: "There was this one eighties pop dude who hated us for encroaching on what he considered 'his turf' which was boy bands and girl bands.
"This guy had this nasty habit of taking a dump in the shared khazi while smoking a cigar, so we took to referring to him as 'Shit and Cigars'."
So 'zig-a-zig-ah' might sound like nonsense, but in fact the girls were using it as a statement against the sexist figureheads in the music industry.
Girl Power.
Jadie Troy-Pryde is News Editor, covering celebrity and entertainment, royal, lifestyle and viral news. Before joining the team in 2018 as the Lifestyle and Social Media Editor, she worked at a number of women’s fashion and lifestyle titles including Grazia, Women’s Health and Stylist, and now heads the Marie Claire UK news desk.
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