This one’s a weird one! But it’s also going to elucidate a bunch of bewildering phrases that you might have noticed popping up in advertisements or in teens’ conversations. Adam Aleksic runs the incredibly popular TikTok/IG/YouTube account Etymology Nerd, where he breaks down how new phrases and memes travel across the internet. Today, we’re talking to him about the way these phrases also make their way into our spoken language — and how algorithms function as a new engine in language change. Like I said, it’s a weird one — but it’s also incredibly interesting.

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Show Notes:

• You can find Adam’s Tiktoks here

• A recent example of a very Adam Tok:

• Buy Algospeak here!

• An explanation of Italian Brainrot

• The Year in Brainrot (which explains how Skibdi is involved in all of this)

• Some Fifth Graders Playing Around with Brainrot terms:

• A hilarious wormhole Reddit explanation of Skibidi Rizz

• Another explainer of Italian Brainrot

• Adam on Labubu Chocolate Crumbl Cookie (???) memes as ‘Microbrainrot’

• We don’t talk about this in the show but I find it fascinating: Is There a Fortnite Accent?

We’re currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

• Running a Small Business — and How to Make It Sustainable & Survivable (with Jen Hewett!)

• All things Love is Blind with Audie Cornish

• Different Modalities of Hanging Out (aka, best ways to hang out with different people) with Mary HK Choi

• Baseball Culture (with Ali Liebegott and Melody as additional co-host!!!)

• The history/utility/culture of OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE GEAR with Avery Trufelman (of Articles of Interest)

• What an actually family-friendly society would look like (with Elliot Haspel)

• An ADULT HOBBIES crossover episode with Forever35!

• Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment!

• As always, you can submit them (and ideas for future eps) here

For this week’s discussion: What other forms of ‘algospeak’ do you see popping up in your life?