Well, yeah, language is dynamic, but there are so many fad uses of words that are caused by people not knowing the real/original/normal use of the word and then spread by the Internet and then forgotten as quickly as they began. If not for social media, these would be limited to 12 middle schoolers at band camp. This feels like one of those.
Have you heard of “false friends?” Words that have come from one language into another, but due to use have completely changed meaning along the way, often to mean the exact opposite of their original meaning. This is common enough that, especially if you speak a Latin based language and learn English as a second language, you’ll see them everywhere.
My point is, that this is not an internet phenomena and has been a feature of languages since there has been language. Some don’t last long, others are so embedded in our lexicons that we don’t even notice.
Well, yeah, language is dynamic, but there are so many fad uses of words that are caused by people not knowing the real/original/normal use of the word and then spread by the Internet and then forgotten as quickly as they began. If not for social media, these would be limited to 12 middle schoolers at band camp. This feels like one of those.
You kind of just described what a meme is
Have you heard of “false friends?” Words that have come from one language into another, but due to use have completely changed meaning along the way, often to mean the exact opposite of their original meaning. This is common enough that, especially if you speak a Latin based language and learn English as a second language, you’ll see them everywhere.
My point is, that this is not an internet phenomena and has been a feature of languages since there has been language. Some don’t last long, others are so embedded in our lexicons that we don’t even notice.