RED-TAGGING, BUTT-DIALING, DEEPFAKING AND OTHER EVOLVING IDIOMS

At No other stage of English language evolution has there been such rapid growth than in the first quarter of this millennium.

- Alfred A. Yuson

Generational infusion has partnered with digital advances in communication that keep us alert to verbal shifts and origination.

The following examples are listed alphabetically. We can start with the word ableism, and its modifier ableist, ushering in an acutely liberal viewpoint. Per Google, "Ableist language refers to language that assumes disabled people are inferior to nondisabled people," while "ableist slurs are words or phrases that dehumanize people with disabilities."

Current no-nos are words like "crippled," "dumb," "retarded," "blind," "deaf," "idiot," "psycho" and "insane." For proper sensitivity, the "homeless" may be called, more realistically, the "unhoused." In our environment, the slang terms "squatter" and "jeprox" have given way to the more polite "informal settlers."

Many words have outlived their original meanings, or embraced other capabilities. Agency used to just mean an office or part of a corporate setup. Social science imbued it with "the ability to take action or to choose what action to take." Agentic means being "capable of achieving outcomes independently," while an agentic future is where AI systems, or "agents," can act independently.

Bed rotting is to stay in bed much of the day, with snacks and gadgets, "as a voluntary retreat from activity or stress." Brain rot is another internet slang term that "refers to the perceived negative impact on mental function resulting from excessive engagement with low-effort, unstimulating online content, such as mindlessly scrolling social media, watching endless streams of videos, or doomscrolling." Butt-dial has come to stand for inadvertence, from the accidental use of a mobile phone. Binge, or immoderate indulgence in an activity, now often refers to prolonged video streaming.

Gaining such popularity has been