Algospeak

Linguist Adam Aleksic, known online as @etymologynerd, argues that the internet and social media now play a leading part in how language changes, reaching outside online spaces, so algospeak needs a broader definition. He moves from incel slang and brainrot memes to the habit of adding -core to influencer aesthetics, and to words such as unalive, used to talk about death. Original surveys, data and archival research back the case, along with his work as a creator; one chapter asks why his video on the phrase from the river to the sea drew fewer views than usual. He also criticizes the wider public's adoption of slang from minority groups as cultural appropriation. Knopf published it in 2025.

Adam Grant picked it among new books to fight brain rot, describing a linguist's look at how the internet is reshaping vocabulary and praising it in slang of its own.