How social media is changing the way we talk - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service

Social media is driving language change around the world at a rate never seen before.

With these changes come greater homogenisation and a risk of linguicide, as we all adapt to a rapidly changing linguistic landscape. So why are things changing so fast, is it a problem, and what could it mean for the future of how we communicate?

On this episode Lucy Hockings is joined by journalist, author, and linguist Sophia Smith Galer and Neil Edgeller from BBC Learning English to discuss what these changes mean for the languages we speak.

00:00 Introduction
01:16 Generational differences
02:01 What is linguicide?
03:11 What words are emerging with younger generations?
03:28 Trying to define skibidi
03:57 The exclusivity of language for identity making
04:33 Rizz already out of usage
05:17 Vocabulary evolving incredibly fast
05:54 Global homogenisation of slang
07:02 Where this new vocabulary is coming from
08:12 An act of rebellion
08:40 The difference to language change pre-internet
09:24 How languages other than English are changing
11:04 Short lifespan of some words and phrases
11:57 Intonation and pronunciation changes from social media
13:27 Narrowing gap between British and US English
13:58 Is grammar changing too?
14:43 Is language change getting faster?
15:06 The joy of language change and evolution
15:36 What does the future hold?
15:59 Could some languages die out?
16:34 The revitalisation of the Māori language in New Zealand
17:06 Will AI play a role in language change?

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[salihahilmy]

Neil, you are here, one of my favourite person of 6 minutes english

[mydogisbailey]

I’m a Canadian living in Paris and what surprised me is that some french young men use “goat” even when speaking french

[nanciolivieri]

Good to see you all, but specially Neil, because I listen all the podcasts from bbc learning english and always wonderered how you look like!

[eliashagstam]

Him saying “the skibidi rizzler” has got me on the floor 😂😂 thanks bbc

[ЭлинаРомис]

I was very glad to hear Neil's familiar voice. My favorite in 6 minutes english

[biscuitheque]

Many factors here: IQ is declining, slang is spreading faster than ever before via social media, young people lacking etiquette, manners and respect, digital technology is gleaning information/young people lacking the attention spans to read books. Basically a dumbing down because of 'influencers' AKA bad influences. Disturbing that this generation behave/talk like entitled cartoon characters. Bro.

[Kotramail]

This was entertaining to watch and it had me wondering of the chances that the world will be speaking the same language ages down the road.

[kmbziyo]

I've noticed similar the convergence of US and Australian slang among people 12-29, undoubtedly due to social media like IG and TIkTok

[pink]

I love this breakdown of how the English language is evolving over time. Internet culture has definitely accelerated this. Very fascinating!

[sorchamusic]

“Skibidi” is a secret language nonsense word similar to saying “hip” in the 70s or “radical” in the 80s or “gnarly”in the 90s. Older generations were befuddled by these expressions then and that was the point.

[claudiamueller]

When I was a teenager here in germany, finding anything to watch in english was difficult. Now, my son watches english YouTube videos and he has not even started it in school. He has been using „cringe“ without knowing it is a real word. Just so fascinating.

[notmyrealname]

I laughed when a 12-year-old piano pupil of mine told me how the generation below her(age 9 etc) spoke in a language she couldn’t understand. 😂

[logingames.M]

Karen word is also becoming very popular

[AdoptHospitality]

If u r on social media or chat group, there’s no boundaries for countries. Just groups of people sharing the language that they feel belong and communicate better. Like pick up lines.

[saudia]

I have been listing to both geys since 2019 and I learned a lot thanks

[eunyog]

Thank you so much for these interesting videos with latest trends. I learn a lot from your Channel: English, news...

[najmaasalaxi]

I didn't listen to a podcast more than 3 minutes in my whole life but this was really beautiful 😍

[SkpalTube]

We are also seeing a reverse trend with people exploring languages beyond their mother tongue - Americans learning Korean or Japanese due to the rise of popular culture.

[markydh]

1:19 in, literally just as the conversation started, the presenter referred to her children as kids. Now, this may be a an example of language changing from one generator the next, but my grandparents would've corrected the presenter at this point and stated the correct word would be indeed be children (with a kid being a young goat).

Another point that I remember being picked up by my grandparents when they watched TV was 'bin', instead of 'been', with most media presenters these days falling foul to that.

The pronunciation of the letter 'T' can be significantly lacking too.

[RingoRocket-hd]

I used the word "keystroke" at work and no one knew what it meant.