Language of the 2010s far surpassed what it was in the 2000s. The use of acronyms no longer became limited to teenage girls with pink flip phones. With texting and posting to social media becoming an integral part of our daily routines, how we express ourselves online has become synonymous with how we express ourselves irl. Casual conversations pieced together with improper spellings and shorthand acronyms create a personal voice of the internet. However, you may not want to email your boss saying “LOL i think imma be late haha sry dude,” we haven’t completely let go of our proper writing standards–yet.
The vocabulary that you need to know to get through a week online probably won’t be found in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. However, you may find words like binge-watch. A definition championed by one of the many online services dominating how we consume content. These companies hold an essential role in shaping the new terms to hit the linguistic market. Words created within these platforms and words that result as a product of their service end up within our everyday vocab. It may seem a little daunting with something that seems like a never-ending scroll of terms to learn, but no worries, here are a couple of words to get you started on catching up on the last decade.