The world just discovered the way Australians sing happy birthday. They're very confused.

We need to address something as a nation because the rest of the world is very confused.

You know how when it's someone's birthday we all sing… happy birthday? It's the one song that we all collectively know the lyrics to (how beautiful). Well… we do something after the song that no one else does… and now I'm questioning everything.

Yep, I'm talking about the hip-hip-hooray malarkey.

Tiktoker Chris Zou posted a video where he talked about his confusion about why Australians do the "hip-hip-hooray" part of the song.

@storiesofcz

In the video, he explained how he originally thought we hip-hip-hoorayed as a joke until he learnt (against his will) that it's actually part of our culture.

But one question he asked has me completely dumbfounded.

"Who exactly says the hip-hip part," he asked.

"It's not the birthday person and only one person gets to say hip-hip… Do you guys decide beforehand who says 'hip-hip'? Or do you guys instinctively know based on pheromones? How do you decide who has that honour of being the 'hip-hip' person?"

Watch: 7 ways to cope with birthday depression. Post continues below.

Why are you looking at me? I don't have the answer. Don't we all instinctively know who's going to be the hip-hip to our hooray? Are we born with it? Is it a collective sixth sense all Australians have?

After spending more time than needed thinking about this (sorry to my manager), I've realised that all hip-hippers have one thing in common… they're the main character. Yes, they're even more main character than the birthday person.

We've all been hip-hippers before and it's only when you give hip-hipping a go that you realise whether it's a path you wish to continue travelling.

I am not a hip-hipper. Sure, I've tried it before, in fact, I probably give it a solid go once a year, but the pressure is too much.

Hip-hippers are loud (you quite literally have to be). They also have to be assertive. There's nothing more embarrassing when two people commit to being the hip-hipper. One is always much louder than the other and the softer hip-hipper knows it because you can slowly hear them get quieter after every sad hip-hip attempt.

There's also something eye-role-y about being a hip-hipper, especially if they're standing next to you. The people closest to the hip-hips have to reply with the most enthusiastic hoorays. The hip-hipper needs to know if they're going to be courageous enough to take on the hip-hip all on their own, that they have trusted allies who will immediately and gladly hooray after them.

In fact, I'm glad Chris posted this TikTok because I'd rather never attend a birthday party ever again than 'hip-hip' in front of a room full of confused people who've never heard this little add-on.

It seems like I'm not the only Australian who is confused about our hip-hip-hooraying ways. The comments on Chris' video prove that there's no true answer to why we… do this.

"The hip-hip person is selected by the vibe; it's the constitution," one person said.

"The hip-hip is yelled by the Alpha Australian of the group at the time," added another.

"If you have to wonder who the hip-hip person is, it's not you. The hip-hip person knows they are the hip-hip person," added another.

With confusion still lurking in the air, I decided to do an investigation (read: google search) on why we love this little treat.

Back in the olden days, people would say "hip-hip" after a toast (apologies if you still do this), which is where the hip-hip-hooray stemmed from. So I guess we just… kept it? And then… only did it for birthdays?

Wow, we're such an interesting bunch aren't we.

If you want more culture opinions from Emily Vernem, you can follow her on Instagram @emilyvernem.

Feature image: Tiktok/Chris Zou & Canva.