The Big Bang Theory: Amy Farah Fowler's Weird Secret Language Explained

If you can look past the near-constant laugh track, scientific jargon, and Sheldon Cooper's (Jim Parsons) "Bazinga" catchphrase, you'll find all kinds of pop culture Easter eggs on "The Big Bang Theory." From blockbuster movie references to comic book moment shout-outs, the Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady-created sitcom has no limits when it comes to references. Among the more deep-cut nods comes from longtime series staple Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), who famously speaks a secret language in the Season 10 episode "The Veracity Elasticity." As it turns out, that language has a surprising small screen history behind it.

The language that Amy uses to communicate with Penny Teller (Kaley Cuoco) is called Ubbi Dubbi. It simply entails adding "ub" in front of each vowel sound in each syllable of a word and was created for the TV series "Zoom." The educational program, which ran from 1972 to 1978, aired on PBS and taught young viewers various life lessons, discussed relevant topics for kids, and provided fun activities for them to try at home. 

While Amy first used Ubbi Dubbi in Season 10, she also used a custom language in Season 5's "The Skank Reflex Analysis." That episode features Amy inventing her own language where "op" is added to each consonant. It's entirely likely "Zoom" influenced this concept as well.

Amy's use of Ubbi Dubbi is a fun throwback to a largely forgotten TV show, but it's also notable for being one of the few things that Sheldon simply can't wrap his head around.

The whole reason Penny and Amy use Ubbi Dubbi during the events of "The Veracity Elasticity" is Sheldon and Leonard Hofstadter's (Johnny Galecki) constant use of Klingon. The two "Star Trek" nerds use the franchise's fictional language to communicate, having mastered it over the course of their lives. Thus, Amy takes it into her hands to combat their Klingon chats with Ubbi Dubbi, prompting the immensely intelligent Sheldon to try decoding it. Surprisingly, he struggles, which is something that has confused some "Big Bang Theory" fans.

Redditor u/Utopian-24 questions this element of the episode in a thread, asking the "Big Bang Theory" fandom why exactly Sheldon couldn't grasp Ubbi Dubbi. Several folks dropped comments offering possible explanations for this, with u/kmkmrod positing that Sheldon's frustration prevented him from figuring it out. If he wasn't so flustered, he would've likely cracked the code in short order. "He butchers Mandarin and is really bad at Spanish. My guess is he doesn't have a knack for language, and only worked hard on Klingon because of his fanboy status," theorized u/Random-Brunette.

Even though Sheldon couldn't appreciate Amy's use of Ubbi Dubbi all these years after "Zoom" popularized it, at least "Big Bang Theory" fans can in all of its niche glory.