Question

The word "Nickelodeon" means "I don't care about God" in Latin.

Answer 1

This claim is false. According to Snopes, fact-checking website, this rumor spread after the premiere of "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" a "docu-series that uncovers the toxic culture behind some of the most iconic children's shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s." The same rumor was also spreading in 2023 on social media. Snopes explained, "whoever created the viral image broke up the name "Nickelodeon" into arbitrary segments divided by spaces, so that Google Translate would interpret it as a phrase instead of a single word." According to Google Translate (Snopes), the phrase "I don't care about God" translates to "Non curat de Deo" rather than "nic kelo deo." The word "nickelodeon" actually comes from "nickel "five-cent coin" (the cost to view one) + -odeon, as in Melodeon (1840) "music hall," ultimately from Greek oideion "building for musical performances." It doesn't derive from any meaning about God or the illuminati.

Comments

You did a great job putting together a thorough fact-check. Good work!

Answer 2

The claim that the word Nickelodeon means "I don't care about God" in Latin is false. The twitter post shows Nickelodeon being broken up in a certain way so that google translate picks up certain words. If you use a Latin dictionary it is clear that 'Nic' and "kelo" are not Latin words. The definition from the Oxford English Dictionary says: 

Originally U.S. A theatre or cinema, or (occasionally) other place of entertainment, with an admission fee of one nickel

This claim is speculation, with a very small amount of research it is easy to see Nickelodeon does NOT mean "I don't care about God."

Latin Dictionary: https://www.online-latin-dictionary.com/latin-english-dictionary.php?parola=Nic

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/nickelodeon_n?tl=true

Link used in original post: https://x.com/AnimeBibleVerse/status/1770891979607384256

Answer 3

This claim is false. "Nickelodeon" does not translate to "I don't care about God" in Latin. The original twitter post depicts three supposed Latin words "nic", "kleo", and "deo" being put into Google Translate. According to the tweet, the English translation is "I don't care about God". 

When searched in the Online Latin Dictionary, the words "nic" and "kleo" do not return any results. According to the dictionary, "deo" is similar to the Latin word "deus" -- which does translate to God -- but "deo" itself does not directly translate. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word "Nickelodeon" refers to "A theatre or cinema, or (occasionally) other place of entertainment, with an admission fee of one nickel."

https://www.online-latin-dictionary.com/latin-english-dictionary.php?parola=deo

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/nickelodeon_n?tab=meaning_and_use#34794434

Answer 4

The claim of the word "Nickelodeon" meaning in Latin "I don't care about God" is categorically false. I came to this conclusion through the website Snopes as they looked at this claim and explained where and why this rumor started and showed that this claim became relevant from the docu-series "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV," which uncovers the dark practices that were often used in kids' tv. The original tweet broke up "arbitrary segments divided by spaces" with Latin words that do not translate to the phrase "I don't care about God". 

The true definition of the word "Nickelodeon," as seen in the Oxford English Dictionary, instead means "Theater or Cinema."

Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nickelodeon-latin-meaning/

Oxford English Dictionary: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/nickelodeon_n?tl=true

Answer 5

Wrong, I used a website called "scopes" which is a commonly known fact checking website to prove this claim wrong. Nickelodeon meaning "I don't care about god" is just a meme that went viral on TikTok and X. If you look up the English translation for Nickelodeon it does in fact come back as "I don't care about god" but that is only because google is trying to give you something with a word that doesn't translate to anything in Latin, for example if you look up "I don't care about god" and translate it from English into Latin, it doesn't come up as Nickelodeon.