Linguists Explain Slang Trends Through History | WIRED
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Күн бұрынLinguists Nicole Holliday and Ben Zimmer go through the history of some of the most popular slang words ever and talk about not only their origins, but why some of them have gone out of style while others have persevered.
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@PaulVRo 2 жыл бұрын
why are they talking as if they are promo hosts for a corporate event?
@quirkyviper 2 жыл бұрын
Now that you mention it... it kinda reminds me of those informercials for like 14 CDs for 7 cents plus shipping and handling, lol.
@crazymusicchick 2 жыл бұрын
@@quirkyviper lol that reminds me of who's line is it anyway?
@miss1of2 2 жыл бұрын
They probably aren't used to read of a teleprompter....
@onkelpappkov2666 2 жыл бұрын
"Sometimes the meaning of words can change over time but one thing that's here to stay is our exceptionally strong partner, Alliance." "Yea, with Alliance, you know that even if things aren't 'rad' or 'lit' anymore, you'll always be 'safe'." "They've certainly got your back. Now let's find out what the street youths have to say about insurance and how it fits their 'credo', here's our speedy street reporter or 'rep', Gordon Williams." [Transition]
@catherinesmitko Жыл бұрын
because they're linguists and probably not very often in front of cameras so they are a bit stiff
@gregaaron89 2 жыл бұрын
One thing I wished they talked about is slang terms being used ironically once they are no longer cool
@lolkayleen2757 2 жыл бұрын
yess like *slay* at first it was cool and then it was weird and very millennial and now it’s cool again at first it was used ironically and now I think it’s mostly unironic and just playful
@OGKillercaptain 2 жыл бұрын
💯
@Melancthon7332 2 жыл бұрын
I hear people use YOLO all the goshdang time but always with a huge slab of irony
@sophcw 2 жыл бұрын
yeah i never stopped using YOLO because even after it became mainstream i just found it a funny thing to say
@Neverender6 2 жыл бұрын
Yes and also the opposite, where a word is first used ironically and then becomes normalized. I remember as a kid when my friend group first heard the word "sick" being used as a synonym for cool, we all thought it was stupid and would use it jokingly in a really exaggerated way, but then after a while we were using it completely seriously, like "yo that's actually sick". Haven't heard it much lately though.
@sdtaylor07 2 жыл бұрын
It’s so difficult for these KZfaq channels. They never know when people want a long video or a short one. Something like this, which has caught our interest should’ve definitely been longer at least have a part 2 coming soon.
@Melancthon7332 2 жыл бұрын
I think Wired probably tests the waters for new potential series with short ones like this, if it gets lots of views guaranteed they'll be back with more (and probably in that 12-18 min sweet spot).
@mrd5024 2 жыл бұрын
This needs to be a longer series. So many words they did not touch.
@tjn0110 2 жыл бұрын
No cap brah.
@brookenjonas 2 жыл бұрын
Knowing how other language-related videos have gone down on this channel, it’ll happen.
@Melancthon7332 2 жыл бұрын
These two have a language podcast that talks about slang a lot
@notit7282 2 жыл бұрын
And I wonder if Wired can make a 5 Levels episode on linguistics! Sociolinguistics is always fascinating without being too alienating because it's about language phenomena we can observe on a daily basis. It's also very much an interdisciplinary field, where discourse analysis can extend to AI chatbots (what makes a conversation a conversation), and code-switching multilingualism, accents, dialects, all of which also highly relevant to cultural and racial discussions. That is not to say other branches of linguistics are boring or irrelevant; sociolinguistics is, in my opinion, simply more approachable to a wide audience of different backgrounds and interests. Happy to be proven wrong though (imagine an episode on constructed languages!)
@joshuataylor3550 2 жыл бұрын
They could do regions, at least in the UK.
@HeadCannon19 2 жыл бұрын
0:25 I laughed way too hard at the idea of a grandma smiling at her phone while saying "my daughter is very mid"
@jj-if6it Жыл бұрын
I must be old cause I've never heard it!
@CScottyW 2 жыл бұрын
My question is what does it take for a slang word to qualify as a “normal word”? I’ve always thought of “cool” as a pretty standard word. Didn’t know it hasn’t really been around for that long!
@EnigmaticLucas 2 жыл бұрын
Use in registers higher than the extremely informal one
@lynnenewell2016 2 жыл бұрын
Hasn't been around that long?! Puhleez! I've been using cool all my life and I'm old dude.
@lynnenewell2016 2 жыл бұрын
@@EnigmaticLucas you have the grasp of words and their meanings, but remember, one should write at the 8th grade level so all may understand your meaning.
@donaldchasedgc4935 2 жыл бұрын
Yep, I'm 71 and still use that word. Most people I know, understand the meaning.
@lynnenewell2016 2 жыл бұрын
@@donaldchasedgc4935 we old folks used it. I think it came in with the Beatnik generation in the 50s. What say you?
@KimberlyGreen 2 жыл бұрын
"Stop trying to make fetch happen. It's _not_ going to happen."
@khalilahd. 2 жыл бұрын
😂😂
@lynnenewell2016 2 жыл бұрын
You win! 😆
@sarahferguson0 2 жыл бұрын
I was born in the 60's and grew up hearing my dad say "lets blow this joint" when he wanted to leave. To this day i still occasionally say it and the other day my teenager's friend thought i was talking about smoking a joint when i said "let's blow this joint" because i was tired of being at the mall 😂🤣 When we got in the car he said to my son, is your mom literally going to light up a joint?? I heard my kid say, "naw, blow this joint is old people for let's leave this place"
@itskindofemily 2 жыл бұрын
I love the "lets blow this ___" haha
@chairwood 2 жыл бұрын
ahahah that's great
@cloudbrooks 2 жыл бұрын
my parents and family say a lot of old stuff, i gather, looking at these comments! im surprised to find that out... it makes me think maybe california uses older slang? or at least the part im in? cause slang that a bunch of comments is calling old is just stuff people say around me lol
@RogerSteinbrinkh2oBrother 2 жыл бұрын
"Let's blow this pop stand."
@onkelpappkov2666 2 жыл бұрын
Let's blow this hobo, guys. What, come on, it'll be fun. Y'all are some scaredy cats. Sheesh, man.
@maggpiprime954 2 жыл бұрын
The "real thieves, not actors" at 1:45 gave me a double take 😂
@schnellfahren911 2 жыл бұрын
Same! 😅
@Kitteh.B 2 жыл бұрын
I really feel like this didn't touch on enough trend words. Yeet, rad, wicked, tubular, tea, etc are more examples I half expected to be touched on but weren't mentioned. Would love to see more on them and other terms though!
@rof8412 2 жыл бұрын
Yes and add in words such as 'awesome', 'totally', 'hella', 'gnarly', 'sweet', 'sick'.
@onlyarham 2 жыл бұрын
Ratio bussin etc
@lynnenewell2016 2 жыл бұрын
There are so many, it would take years to get through just the 20th century!
@abmindprof 2 жыл бұрын
I'm sure they had a time limit they wanted to stay under. In any case, the idea is to show some ways slang works, like rises and falls, and how some can persist, not list the words. They could have come up with plenty of other examples but they'd only be repetitive in terms of the points they're making.
@FionaEm 2 жыл бұрын
"OMG, that's, like, totally tubularrrrrr" 😂 I'm Australian but loved the Valley Girl vernacular ☺️
@meghandivito 2 жыл бұрын
This felt like a video the substitute would have made us watch in middle school.
@lonesucculentradio6225 2 жыл бұрын
I lol’d thank you
@misterscottintheway 2 жыл бұрын
This is kind of uncanny valley between scripted and banter. Not really working for me
@KarolYuuki Жыл бұрын
Kids here in Brazil started using cringy, like the actual English word, same meaning and all. I thought that was really cool, cause I could use that word in both languages. But then old people found out about this, and for a week on daytime TV and Buzzfeed like sites there was "what is cringy?" , " The new word young people are using to describe us", "are you cringy?" tests. The situation was indeed, very cringy. And the word instantly died
@cleverusername9369 2 жыл бұрын
Fun fact about the word "booze", George Washington had a dog named Boozer, as well as other dogs Tipsy and Drunkard.
@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770 Жыл бұрын
Yeah. Thomas Jefferson had a dog named Stoner, and Abe Lincoln had a dog named Crackhead.
@creativekloud9223 Жыл бұрын
@@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770 😂😂
@markl4730 2 жыл бұрын
We need more academics studying gen-z culture unironically, its really funny to me
@missheniki 2 жыл бұрын
As an academic, I can tell you that there’s a lot of stigma around contemporary or ultra contemporary fields (in literature, which is my field, for example). If it hasn’t yet stood the test of time, it’s not considered scholarly. How can you determine the hallmarks of a generation (lit, film, linguistics, culture) when they are still being defined?
@cereyza Жыл бұрын
most gen-z culture is just black culture but bastardized
@sfowler1017 2 жыл бұрын
This would have been more fun if it was less scripted.
@itskindofemily 2 жыл бұрын
My thoughts too 🗿🗿
@saxrendell 2 жыл бұрын
totally agree, i was expecting a more podcast-style discussion
@luciakobza Жыл бұрын
Yessss it was very awkward
@BryantMitchell 2 жыл бұрын
This is my first time hearing about "cheugy", be then again I am a millennial
@sketchur 2 жыл бұрын
Same... Never heard of it, and I don't anticipate hearing it again after this video. 😆
@joshuataylor3550 2 жыл бұрын
Just glad I have friends my age.
@imageignition23 Жыл бұрын
@@sketchur fuxk yeah, fuxk chewy, fuxk words
@Iexpedite1 2 жыл бұрын
It seems like slang terms that came along before the social media era, are the ones that stay popular. Social media is a place people try to amplify themselves. What better way than to use the newest words and phrases. Before social media, it took words longer to be picked up by the mainstream. They didn’t get played out as quickly and eventually became standard words.
@username-password 2 жыл бұрын
Yeah I love this; hopefully it becomes a series
@hschuler7892 2 жыл бұрын
great video. would love to see more linguistics
@shoyusuki8687 2 жыл бұрын
bruh that bit of a son and his grandma dissing on his mom calling her mid made me laugh way more than it should
@xhavilor 2 жыл бұрын
"How do you do, fellow kids?" vibes
@cadeevans4623 2 жыл бұрын
Love these kind of videos very interesting
@KelleySings 2 жыл бұрын
Why do I feel like I just took a corporate learning module on my first day as a parent? 😂
@richardbentoskiIII 2 жыл бұрын
I was hoping for Eric Singer
@sam_ram Жыл бұрын
Same here
@lifjyruss 2 жыл бұрын
I was hoping this video would be longer. 🥺
@rpy9wyvbuerdopvpoe7blt77 2 жыл бұрын
Liked the video and topic but you guys gotta drop the morning talkshow vibe and set
@DanielKlein23 2 жыл бұрын
This was super, hah, cool. More please!
@Grongooo 2 жыл бұрын
Cool topic
@SandmanStoriesPresents Жыл бұрын
These two folks are really wonderful and kind. Both are on twitter and love to have folks say hello. Cool stuff here
@ahoyhere8113 2 жыл бұрын
more, please!
@chriso7781 Жыл бұрын
Great video, loving the Queen's English IPA transcriptions
@Sumaiko 2 жыл бұрын
Linguistics is fascinating & there’s so much information that one short video couldn’t come close covering a fraction of it. I feel like this video fell short though; & it didn’t help it was evident it was scripted. I was bored but I pushed through the video in hopes of more knowledge. I think this video should’ve been longer like some of the other videos on the channel. Then again, maybe other linguists would be nice to feature on the channel with more slang.
@itskindofemily 2 жыл бұрын
Yesssss this!!! I was bored half-way through. It felt like a uni presentation because of all the script reading
@Sumaiko 2 жыл бұрын
@@itskindofemily Agreed, & some of it felt so forced! Hoping for another video on linguistics & with different hosts
@royer_redos 2 жыл бұрын
Love this
@rachaelanderson7044 2 жыл бұрын
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@mistyminnie5922 2 жыл бұрын
"See you next time" this means there'll be more parts? Yes please!
@Lincolnator721 2 жыл бұрын
Yaaaass
@Joe-oe6sq 2 жыл бұрын
"Tsugi/Chugi" is a Filipino slang term initially mostly used by the female and LGBT population that means "dead/deceased" and was used long before 2013. "Cheugy" really sounds and means similar to that.
@elianne4753 Жыл бұрын
Would love to see a breakdown of thieves’ flash patter
@shroomedup 2 жыл бұрын
Funny, when she talked about cringe is where I stopped the video realizing this is too cringe
@rainespells1273 Жыл бұрын
Same when ‘brands why do they have to ruin everything’ and the most liked comment is about how this feels too corporate lol
@dnister_nymph 2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the interesting video 🤍
@AttnDefDis_ 2 жыл бұрын
Ooh, I like hearing "we'll see you next time." I love this kinda thing.
@adrees Жыл бұрын
I like “gauche” (bruh, not bringing an adi to the potluck is too gauche) and “quaff” (that hamster is my hero after he quaffed 21 equivalent hamster sized bottles of vermouth before breaking in to the cage next door full of hamster babes and for fornicating with all of them multiple times. Have you ever danced with the devil under the full moonlight?).
@lesbianactivity 2 жыл бұрын
i loved this video! still miss erik singer though!
@khalilahd. 2 жыл бұрын
Love this video already 😂💜
@_all_around_us 2 жыл бұрын
This video finna slap, no kizzy!
@mindbomb9341 2 жыл бұрын
@06:37 ... I see "Cool" was soooo cool in the late 1940s that it managed to travel backward in time and achieve triple coolness a few years. LOL
@OXSkuldream 2 жыл бұрын
Katie Curic out here catching strays
@dgraykage231 Жыл бұрын
please protect these two at all costs!!! Jesus, I love them so much and their personalities really stand out amongst KZfaq cut/copy personalities.
@nikkiewhite476 2 жыл бұрын
I would like to see them covering some of the computer user Language phenomena. Languages like L33t, LOLcat, the Tumbler punctuation free rhetorical type... Things like that that are mostly text based but are sometimes used verbally.
@mariannecontrino6297 2 жыл бұрын
I don't know why, but this part gave me major, "How do you do, fellow kids", vibes!?!?(0:22-0:28)
@Tomi2times 2 жыл бұрын
I feel like a lot of this stuff is just AAVE that gets popularized and then overused/misused when ppl don't actually understand what context the word should be used it (ex. Bussin)
@sam08g16 2 жыл бұрын
So uh what does crypto have to do with it?
@16poetisa 2 жыл бұрын
Gotta love a Donna Jo reference!
@KurtRichterCISSP 2 жыл бұрын
Nice vid with some good content, but to be honest, I feel the conversational nature of this video seemed forced and dragged it out a bit.
@ausster8658 2 жыл бұрын
This video is the real “bees knees”.
@sndmnc 2 жыл бұрын
i have never seen two people have less chemistry
@Dazt4r 2 жыл бұрын
I feel like what’s you’re seeing is two linguists interact with each other, ironically an inherently awkward situation given both of them are absolute dorks.
@realtalk6195 2 жыл бұрын
The lady was way too exaggerated in her mannerisms. Seemed like she should be teaching preschoolers, but too the rest of us it's kinda cringe.
@coconutty030 10 ай бұрын
actually they cohost a podcast and it’s great!! it’s probably just because academics aren’t used to being on camera :/ also, as a linguistics major: yes we’re all nerds, no we aren’t all inherently awkward
@browk2512 2 жыл бұрын
I'd never thought of the word cool as cool
@toddellner5283 2 жыл бұрын
YOLO? You Obviously Love Owls
@katalystversiontwo 2 жыл бұрын
Never heard cheugy
@maximillionpegasus5654 2 жыл бұрын
The origin of "cool" is pretty wizard!
@ryanwilkinson2743 2 жыл бұрын
More please!
@Alex-lf2hv 2 жыл бұрын
more of these please! fill my brain with the history of the ridiculous language that is English
@aclark903 2 жыл бұрын
#Chaucer
@jesusFMA 2 жыл бұрын
This is the year of “fetch”
@drskelebone 2 жыл бұрын
"Man, watch out for Steve. He's always such a DULPICKLE!" :D I'm pretty sure there's a dulpickle/"dill pickle" joke here, but it's late and I'm tired and it didn't just out immediately.
@MinedMaker 2 жыл бұрын
My favourite modern slag word is *YEET.* Like the "on fleek" example, it also started on Vine. It can be used to add some manic gen-z-esque energy to any situation.
@nicoleisom2920 2 жыл бұрын
Yeet is my favorite too. It just works so well in context and puts the right emphasis on everything that follows and it's really fun to say. I feel like it'll stick around for awhile.
@evvez 2 жыл бұрын
If this becomes a series, I'd love to see Kory Stamper. I miss Merriam-Webster's "Ask the Editor" days.
@WesleyWhiteside Жыл бұрын
Cool will never go out of style. It's immortal.
@zenagitana 2 жыл бұрын
I was watching West Side Story with my niece when one character said "copacetic". She asked me what it meant and my GenX brain said: everything's good, agreeable, kosher, cool". She then asked what I meant by "kosher" 😆
@Melancthon7332 2 жыл бұрын
That one's been around since the beatnik era (at the very least). Always love hearing it in the wild!
@itskindofemily 2 жыл бұрын
I use kosher and I'm 22 🥹🥹 probs the shows I watch lol
@AttnDefDis_ 2 жыл бұрын
Well, at least you're teaching her a thing or two.
@char6081 2 жыл бұрын
What does kosher mean?
@Beaneabean Жыл бұрын
@@itskindofemily Us 20-somethings arent young anymore 😭
@dobetterwithchristian4472 2 жыл бұрын
When is next time?
@florbz5821 2 жыл бұрын
This video was so radical!!! So fetch!
@ONRIPRESENCE 2 жыл бұрын
I lived in an isolated mountain region of the southwestern United States since my birth in 1996. 6 years ago, I bought my 1st smart phone & I am still learning about many new slang terms used outside of where I grew up. Now, on my digital notebook, I keep an updated list of new terms that city people use every passing year 😅😅.
@donaldchasedgc4935 2 жыл бұрын
What about the words WEED & GRASS which are still used today to refer to Marijuana.?
@FoolHardyQueso 2 жыл бұрын
Dope!
@makeadifference4all 2 жыл бұрын
Cool video
@arfinjalal4563 2 жыл бұрын
The on fleek vine was archived Partially Because of the audio
@lasersontheride 2 жыл бұрын
fleek was just a mutation of "flicky" which is old school chicago slang
@thisisnotmyname4700 Жыл бұрын
Parents: If you don't want your child saying swear words/other trends, just start saying them yourself! It won't be 'cool' anymore. Let me know if it works
@geffenz 2 жыл бұрын
Officially requesting "funk"!
@briannaarnold6053 2 жыл бұрын
Looking sharp or tight is one I remember
@janmelantu7490 2 жыл бұрын
I love how the comments on this video are just pure slang and you can’t tell if people are being serious or not
@freesk8 2 жыл бұрын
Groovy needs to return.
@Kwizzle9999 2 жыл бұрын
Funny to see such squares making a video about this topic.
@LM-bp1oy 2 жыл бұрын
The editor really came after dr Phil huh
@justingerald Жыл бұрын
Nicole (Dr. Holliday) killing it
@SarahKDB 2 жыл бұрын
I really like this, but the set needs to be made a bit more casual maybe. It looks like a business HR training video.
@MaybeZero 7 ай бұрын
My high school English teacher put this on 💀
@johnyiannacopoulos639 Жыл бұрын
Yolo has never left, really most of these are still used, just with a twinge of sarcasm
@AlexandraAnnette Жыл бұрын
I still use yolo my fav
@KrakenIsland64 2 жыл бұрын
"Cool. Cool cool cool." Stop breaking the 4th wall Abed!
@richardmartinez3078 2 жыл бұрын
Cheugy sounds like "chunty" with kinda means the same thing, Latinos in LA have been using it for a long time
@NellieKAdaba Жыл бұрын
Great to know.
@vacuumlover1 Жыл бұрын
Yeet is my favorite word
@jwildy2428 Жыл бұрын
Why is this like an infomercial
@TJonLongIsland Жыл бұрын
Wish 5hey would include a link to online versions or a place to purchase the books they allude to.
@PSroka 2 жыл бұрын
anyone else keep hearing the minecraft spider noise?
@reimusklinsman5876 2 жыл бұрын
These nimnenogs are so choogey and totally off fleek. I could happily yolo if I never saw this uncool video. Now I feel like I need some booze.
@wildeskompositum9556 2 жыл бұрын
"Then cool lost its popularity" yeah thats when coral came in
@joshuataylor3550 2 жыл бұрын
I was wearing a YOLO bracelet until the end of 2013.
@haleywilson520 2 жыл бұрын
I have never in my life heard "cheugy"
@mprescod5593 2 жыл бұрын
Is that a real, functioning, overhead projector in the background? I haven’t seen one of those for some time.
@BusquedaBlues 2 жыл бұрын
The Strokes said "You Only Live Once" way before Drake did in 2005 with their single.
@barbaramonnone8445 2 жыл бұрын
The slang you guys are talking about are still used til this day.
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