What is the Phrase? November Version

Hey language learners! It’s nearly December… How did that occur?! We swear we had been ringing within the new 12 months a number of weeks in the past. Anyway, they are saying time flies while you’re having enjoyable, and we hope you’ve had a brilliant enjoyable 12 months of studying with Memrise! On this November Publication, we’re bringing you extra nuggets of cultural and linguistic information from around the globe. We’ll take a look at the methods by which TikTok is altering modern-day language, Cambridge Dictionary’s recently-revealed (and mildly controversial) Phrase of the 12 months, and a cool new multilingual Netflix present for language geeks. Let’s leap proper in!

Is TikTok altering the best way we converse?

Have you ever ever watched a video on social media and seen {that a} phrase within the caption has been changed with a similar-sounding phrase? Though these could be mistaken for typos, some social media customers are having to deliberately misspell or substitute phrases to make sure that their movies aren’t eliminated below strict moderation guidelines on common platforms. And this new sort of language even has a reputation: algospeak. So what are some frequent examples of those inventive, algorithm-combatting options? You might need seen the phrase ‘pandemic’ changed with the similar-sounding ‘panoramic’ in recent times, or the phrase ‘intercourse’ changed by the made up phrase ‘seggs’. Generally this phenomenon even stretches past phrases, with fruit emojis used rather than the phrase ‘queer’ and different synonyms. However will this language really seep into the best way we converse in actual life? This stays to be seen… Though the necessity for algospeak could also be linked to wider points referring to censorship, we do suppose it’s cool to see language being utilized in such playful and inventive methods.

Whereas we’re on the subject of TikTok, have you ever checked out our new classes primarily based on content material made by your favourite influencers? If not, seize your telephone and have a go now!

And the Cambridge Dictionary Phrase of the 12 months is…

We’ve a query to ask you: have you ever ever been a Wordle addict? In that case, don’t fear – this weblog is a protected house. The Wordle fanatics amongst us will not be as shocked because the (somewhat smug) ‘non-Wordlers’ to listen to that Cambridge Dictionary has revealed their phrase of the 12 months to be the 5-letter noun ‘homer’ (and no, we’re not speaking in regards to the Simpson’s character or the Greek writer of the Odyssey). On this context, ‘homer’ is an off-the-cuff phrase taken from US English, which means ‘somebody who scores a home-run in baseball’.

So why did a historic British dictionary select an American phrase, and what on earth does all of this must do with Wordle? Properly, followers of the day by day 5-letter-word guessing recreation, which skilled astronomical ranges of recognition in 2022, may do not forget that ‘homer’ was the phrase of the day on Could the fifth this 12 months. There was uproar as non-American Wordle gamers furiously Googled the phrase’s which means, with Cambridge Dictionary witnessing 75,000 searches within the first week of Could alone. Equally, later within the 12 months, American English audio system weren’t completely satisfied when the quintessentially British phrase ‘bloke’ was the Wordle reply in July. No matter number of English you converse, we will all agree with Cambridge Dictionary that 2022 will likely be remembered as ‘The 12 months of Wordle’!

A polyglot efficiency in Netflix’s new drama

That is the proper time of 12 months to start out a brand new collection, so we’ve performed the onerous give you the results you want and located the proper new present for us language-lovers. Crammed with thriller and suspense, this one comes from the creators of the smash-hit German collection Darkish. The new Netflix unique, known as 1899, follows a global group of passengers aboard a steamship heading throughout the wild and treacherous Atlantic Ocean to New York. Other than the nail-biting plot (which we received’t spoil!), what’s distinctive about this new present is {that a} complete of 10 completely different languages are spoken by a multilingual forged! Within the 8-episode collection, characters leap from English to French to Cantonese to Norwegian, and so forth – it truly is a language geek’s dream! The present’s creators have mentioned that, as an alternative of constructing issues straightforward by utilizing one frequent language (more likely to be English), they wished to provide a voice to different languages which are sometimes underrepresented in common tradition.

So, earlier than you get caught into watching the total collection, we wished to set you slightly problem… Give the trailer a watch and see what number of completely different languages you possibly can spot in simply 2 minutes!

And that’s all for this version of What’s the Phrase? Each month we spherical up among the coolest issues which might be occurring around the globe and share them with you within the hope they’ll quench your language and basic knowledge-seeking thirst just a bit bit. Catch you subsequent time!