Episode 84 - Daria Bahtina and 'Gen Z slang'

<p>Welcome to episode 84 of Lexis in which we have both an interview and a Lang in the News segment. Amanda and Dan talk to Dr Daria Bahtina, Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics at UCLA about a lot of things, including:</p><ul><li><p>Generational slang and online vernacular</p></li><li><p>Whether any slang is ever truly ‘meaningless’</p></li><li><p>The rapid pace of slang generation, diffusion and disappearance in an online world</p></li><li><p>What happens when slang leaves niche communities and gets picked up more widely</p></li><li><p>Moral panics around slang and online vernacular</p></li><li><p>The project work Daria does with her students and tips for A level English Language teachers and students about successful projects</p></li></ul><p>Guardian articles Daria is quoted in: </p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/mar/01/incel-slang-mainstream-government-media"><u>The Pentagon says it’s ‘lethalitymaxxing’. Why has ‘incel’ slang crossed into the mainstream? | Language | The Guardian</u></a></p><p>(https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/mar/01/incel-slang-mainstream-government-media)</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/30/six-seven-meaning-slang"><u>Slang terms like ‘six-seven’ have no definition. But they’re loaded with meaning | Matthew Cantor | The Guardian</u></a></p><p>(https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/30/six-seven-meaning-slang) </p><p>Daria’s UCLA pages:</p><p><a href="https://linguistics.ucla.edu/person/daria-bahtina/"><u>https://linguistics.ucla.edu/person/daria-bahtina/</u></a></p><p>Daria’s Languaged Life blog:</p><p><a href="https://languagedlife.ucla.edu/"><u>https://languagedlife.ucla.edu/</u></a> </p><p>The book Daria recommends: <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/language-and-social-issues/5C1D0C2F61B4D0ADA69AE7024EF1E1E2#overview"><u>https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/language-and-social-issues/5C1D0C2F61B4D0ADA69AE7024EF1E1E2#overview</u></a> </p><p>Our <strong>Lang in the News</strong> segment returns too! Lisa, Jacky and Dan talk about stories in the media about slang, appropriation and appreciation, discussing articles from the Mail Online, The Guardian, the Mississippi Clarion Ledger (yes, it is real) and a new paper by two of our previous guests, Christian Ilbury and Rianna Walcott. </p><p>Articles: <a href="https://eu.clarionledger.com/story/news/2026/03/16/new-slang-67-what-does-lowkenuinely-mean-how-to-use-it/89180944007/"><u>https://eu.clarionledger.com/story/news/2026/03/16/new-slang-67-what-does-lowkenuinely-mean-how-to-use-it/89180944007/</u></a> </p><p>Christian Ilbury &amp; Rianna Walcott - Gen Z Language? Y&#39;all Mean AAVE’: The Appropriation of African American Vernacular English as ‘TikTok Language’</p><p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josl.70024"><u>https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josl.70024</u></a> </p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/30/six-seven-meaning-slang"><u>https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/30/six-seven-meaning-slang</u></a> </p><p><strong>Lexis is on Bluesky: </strong><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/lexispodcast.bsky.social"><strong>https://bsky.app/profile/lexispodcast.bsky.social</strong></a><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Contributors</strong></p><p><em>Lisa Casey</em> </p><p>blog: <a href="https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/"><u>https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/</u></a> </p><p><em>Dan Clayton</em> </p><p>blog: <a href="http://englishlangsfx.blogspot.com/"><u>EngLangBlog</u></a> &amp; Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/englangblog.bsky.social"><u>https://bsky.app/profile/englangblog.bsky.social</u></a> </p><p><em>Jacky Glancey</em> </p><p><em>Raj Rana</em></p><p><em>Matthew Butler </em></p><p>Music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys </p><p>Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free