“Elf mode” has become a part of people’s everyday vocabulary. Language experts and memes share why.

The term “puck mode” began as a joke. A photo-edited headline claimed actress Julia Fox broke up with ex-girlfriend Ye, rapper formerly known as Kanye West, because he didn’t like him when she moved into “puck mode.”

Julia Fox opened up about her ‘difficult’ relationship with Kanye West: ‘He didn’t like it when she went puck mode,’ and ‘The fake headline, shared on Twitter by user @meowmeowmeuw on February 15, read. picture too appeared on Reddit about that time.

Goblin mode, which refers to a person who is generally chaotic, likely unmasked and acting “wild” out of laziness or aversion to going out, has been used on sites like Tumblr and Urban Dictionary for years. But the latest Fox meme has given the term renewed momentum across the internet.

This cycle of joke term is becoming internet slang and, at times, making the leap to offline vocabulary more common. New terms, such as “cheugy,” are accidentally coined all the time on social media — whether the word is used in earnest or in satire.

Some experts say that this happens because words that associate a language with something that had no previous expression have the ability to gain traction.

“If you use a word and people see that it accurately and succinctly captures the feeling of the moment or the feeling or the style, that expression really gains strength, and it’s really easy to stick to,” Kristen Serett, associate professor of linguistics at Rutgers University said.

Social media is a breeding ground for new words

In Urban Dictionary, the early entry of . is puck mode He defines it as a term when a person loses himself and resorts to becoming an imp. Some entries describe the term as meaning a person who has become mischievous and imp-like, while other entries define it more vulgar as a sexual act.

The term has also been widely interpreted as a way of describing a sloppy, rude, and lazy person. While some see it as a harmless way to describe a chaotic phase, some have suggested that the phrase is offensive. One Controversy is that some people with psychological problems or disabilities live in “puck mode” not by choice but by circumstances.

The term’s broad definition likely stems from the fact that the Fox meme was a gag that didn’t provide a specific definition of what puck mode meant, leaving it open to interpretation. The ambiguous nature of this phrase, with which people can enter their own definition, is just one way in which social media can give birth to a new term.

Seret said that young people have always been a major driver of language shifts, but social media has been like gasoline on a flame.

“What we see in online communication is the younger generation that has taken hold of this medium because it is a way for them to express themselves quickly in a way that is not specific to them,” Syrett said.

Mims often invent terms that become part of our regular vocabulary. In addition to goblin and cheugy status, the insult “OK boomer” is a product of memes and the internet.

These phrases defined the indefinable, Syret said, which may be why the style of ghouls has gone mainstream.

Once you have a word for something, it can be shared. become true.

Shane Tilton, author of “meme life”

“The fact that you can have a term like puck mode and have a picture that captures just that… it captures it in a way [feels like] “I can’t define it, but that’s what it is,” Syrett said.

Although memes are usually just jokes, communication style can sometimes express an abstract feeling that there is no word for. So when a meme accidentally uses a word that lends a sense of vocabulary, it goes viral.

“Once you have a word for something, it can be shared. It becomes reality,” said Shane Tilton, assistant professor of writing and multimedia studies at Ohio Northern University and an author.life meme. “It was just plain, and you made it real. “

Will the terms created online remain?

While those phrases may spread quickly on social media, Syrett said the real test is their staying power. Many words fade away or are confined to a certain period or niche group on the Internet, and they won’t always stand the test of time.

Syrett referred to a discussion among members of the American Dialect Association that focused on this very issue. When choosing a word that would define 2021, some members suggested Cheugy would be the best packaging of the year, while others were angry at the suggestion.

“There was a really double reaction around that particular word, which was: Is it really a word that people use, or is it being used in a way that won’t allow it to be productive after the next year or two?” She said.

Tilton has argued that a phrase like puck status, which can apply to many situations in a person’s life and may provide a way to describe a feeling or situation that previously had few descriptions, could have a longer lifespan than some might expect.

However, he said, it is possible that a particular phrase contains cycles, fading in and out of the vernacular.

Language, he said, “goes as fast and slowly as we can explain our experiences.”

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