Inside The Viral Words That Make You Click - Etymology Nerd - #1086

Key Takeaways

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  Viral words are marketing ploys for big dictionary

  “Whenever a dictionary chooses their word of the year, that's a marketing ploy by big dictionary to sell more dictionaries. Yes. Six seven, of course, is this reference where if you say it, you can go viral. That's the idea behind six seven. That's the whole joke that this is a possibility of getting clipped, that you can cash in on the virality of it for your own game.”

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  TikTok is the primary engine for linguistic innovation

  “There was a study by Know Your Meme in 2022 that found where words come from over time by percentage of platforms. And it started out on 4chan and Reddit and Twitter, and now it's mostly TikTok and Twitter. There's linguistic innovation. There's a a kind of everything comes from the user interface. There's a feeling of a conversation happening there.”

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  Platform dialects function like social group markers

  “A platform functions kind of like a house. It is a place where you go to use a certain type of language. So on LinkedIn, you're gonna use this more professional language. On Twitter, you're going to engage in more linguistic play where you're, you have all these words like jester gooning or whatever emerge. On TikTok, there might be more fandom language or something.”

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  Influencer accents are optimized to hold the floor

  “The accent is optimized for the algorithm. There's an element of retention, which is how long you watch the video. And when you drag out words, it kind of works better for captivating your audience. Dead silence is very bad on the algorithm. So if you have a live stream or something, you want to drag out your final syllable. Actually, that uptalk where you kind of lengthen your final vowel is very good for online hooking.”

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  Slang serves as a tool for in-group identity

  “Language is a tool of identity. And when you use a word, you are signaling that you're part of this cohort. It's an identifier of in group belonging. 100%. All these things are just keywords—maxing, gooning, whatever—and you can just say that, and you can go viral because the keywords are what pushes things through the algorithm and what people resonate with.”

Episode Description

Adam Aleksic is a linguist, content creator, and author, best known online as the Etymology Nerd. What’s happening to language right now? Words like “rizz” and “skibidi” can make it feel like you’re out of the loop, but are you actually getting older, or has the internet transformed language into something entirely new? What does the science of linguistics say about this shift? Expect to learn why 6-7 was voted word of the year for 2025, why TikTok is becoming the most powerful linguistic engine on Earth, if there is a science to meme language, why funny language spreads and what makes it stick, why we should care about linguistics, and much more… Sponsors: See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: ⁠⁠https://chriswillx.com/deals⁠⁠ Extra Stuff: Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: ⁠⁠https://chriswillx.com/books⁠⁠ Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: ⁠⁠https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom⁠⁠ Episodes You Might Enjoy: #577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠ #712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠ #700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠ - Get In Touch: Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠https://chriswillx.com/contact⁠⁠ - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices