LEILA FADEL, HOST:
In the past year, Cambridge Dictionary added more than 6,000 new words. And if you're not super online or super young, some terms may leave you scratching your head.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah, one of the new additions is skibidi, which the dictionary defines as a word that can have different meanings such as cool or bad or can be used with no real meaning as a joke. So for example, what the skibidi are you doing, Leila?
FADEL: I don't know if that word works with you (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: What? Natural to me.
FADEL: Skibidi is popular among Gen Alpha, another dictionary edition, by the way. And it comes from the viral Skibidi Toilet YouTube series where a man's singing head pops out of a toilet.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in non-English language).
FADEL: Much like the word, it's complete nonsense.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, so here are a few more additions. Delulu, which means delusional. Inspa, which means inspiration.
FADEL: Tradwife is another edition, referring to a traditional wife who stays home cooking, cleaning, caring for children and posting on social media.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NARA SMITH: My husband is about to go on a boys' trip and his flight...
FADEL: Nara Smith is a popular tradwife influencer known for celebrating domesticity by cooking elaborate meals from scratch and whispering narration.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SMITH: I made a simple no-knead bread and let that rise for about two hours. And once...
MARTÍNEZ: (Imitating Nara Smith) Also making the cut, a combination of bro and oligarchy.
FADEL: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Sorry, I got influenced there. Broligarchy, referring to rich and powerful tech bros who wield political influence.
FADEL: Adam Aleksic is a linguist and author of "Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming The Future Of Language."
ADAM ALEKSIC: It's not new that we're adding new words to the dictionary. We've always been doing that. That's a time-honored process. What is new is all these words are coming directly through social media algorithms.
FADEL: A living language is always evolving.
ALEKSIC: Algorithms tend to compound and amplify natural processes of language change. So a word is kind of trending, and then influencers hop onto that word because our job is to find trends and perpetuate them because that's how we stay relevant.
FADEL: Aleksic says looking at origins is important.
ALEKSIC: Social media creates these communities that feel like they have a space to use their language, and then it opens up those communities just enough to allow their memes to spread. I do think by following where words come from, you can also follow conduits of cultural change and see how our culture is being influenced as a whole.
MARTÍNEZ: No cap, Leila. These new words are fire. I mean, if you use them, you'll finally have some main character energy.
FADEL: Excuse me, I was born with main character energy. You're delulu.
(SOUNDBITE OF LO-FI LUKE'S "SKIBIDI") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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