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Otherwords

How Brands Ruin Slang

Season 3 Episode 1 | 8m 01s

From the Brands Saying Bae in the 2010s, to the “wassup” ads of the 90s, advertisers are always trying to find ways to sound cool. But when brands on social media use a slang word in their marketing, that basically guarantees it's over. We understand that brands didn’t come up with these words and that they're not part of the groups we think should be using them, but why? What makes a word slang,

Aired: 01/25/23
Extras
Watch • 9:19
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Punctuation's Weird Backstory
How did we get from written words scrunched together without any spaces or symbols to punctuation?
Episode: S5 E9 | 9:19
Watch • 7:03
Otherwords
Popular Word Origins That Are Totally Wrong
What are folk etymologies?
Episode: S5 E8 | 7:03
Watch • 7:18
Otherwords
Is Social Media Censorship Unaliving Language?
Is TikTok ruining language?
Episode: S5 E7 | 7:18
Watch • 7:21
Otherwords
The Mysterious Origins of Abracadabra and Other Magic Words
Are there 'magic' words?
Episode: E6 | 7:21
Watch • 5:51
Otherwords
Where Did Cringey Corporate Jargon Come From?
We're gonna have to ask you to go ahead and watch this video. "
Episode: E5 | 5:51
Watch • 12:22
Otherwords
Inside the Fiercest Debate in Linguistics
It's one of the most contentious debates in linguistics!
Episode: E4 | 12:22
Watch • 7:05
Otherwords
Why A.I. Struggles with Negative Words
The ways we use negation in language can be pretty complex, even AI can’t seem to make sense of it.
Episode: E3 | 7:05
Watch • 8:36
Otherwords
The Ancient Origins of Body Words
Join us as we try to figure out how our body parts got their names.
Episode: E1 | 8:36
Watch • 6:21
Otherwords
Is Bluey Giving Your Kid Australian Accent
Children are sponges for language acquisition. Which leads us to ask the question: how much does TV
Episode: S4 E11 | 6:21
Watch • 6:51
Otherwords
Is English a Creole?
We already know that English borrows from everybody, but can it be considered a Creole language?
Episode: S4 E10 | 6:51
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Watch • 9:19
Otherwords
Punctuation's Weird Backstory
How did we get from written words scrunched together without any spaces or symbols to punctuation?
Episode: S5 E9 | 9:19
Watch • 7:03
Otherwords
Popular Word Origins That Are Totally Wrong
What are folk etymologies?
Episode: S5 E8 | 7:03
Watch • 7:18
Otherwords
Is Social Media Censorship Unaliving Language?
Is TikTok ruining language?
Episode: S5 E7 | 7:18
Watch • 7:21
Otherwords
The Mysterious Origins of Abracadabra and Other Magic Words
Are there 'magic' words?
Episode: E6 | 7:21
Watch • 5:51
Otherwords
Where Did Cringey Corporate Jargon Come From?
We're gonna have to ask you to go ahead and watch this video. "
Episode: E5 | 5:51
Watch • 12:22
Otherwords
Inside the Fiercest Debate in Linguistics
It's one of the most contentious debates in linguistics!
Episode: E4 | 12:22
Watch • 7:05
Otherwords
Why A.I. Struggles with Negative Words
The ways we use negation in language can be pretty complex, even AI can’t seem to make sense of it.
Episode: E3 | 7:05
Watch • 8:36
Otherwords
The Ancient Origins of Body Words
Join us as we try to figure out how our body parts got their names.
Episode: E1 | 8:36
Watch • 6:21
Otherwords
Is Bluey Giving Your Kid Australian Accent
Children are sponges for language acquisition. Which leads us to ask the question: how much does TV
Episode: S4 E11 | 6:21
Watch • 6:51
Otherwords
Is English a Creole?
We already know that English borrows from everybody, but can it be considered a Creole language?
Episode: S4 E10 | 6:51