Furby was launched in 1998 as an electronic toy that spoke its own invented language, Furbish, and gradually learned English words as its owner played with it. Its wide eyes, beak and sudden chatter made it a holiday craze in the late 1990s, and later a lasting pop-culture reference for cute technology turning slightly uncanny. Online, clips of its babbling are reused in memes, reaction videos and horror edits, where the familiar toy voice instantly signals nostalgia, surprise or a joke about technology coming to life.