Kicker: Don’t be delulu

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Myrna, what in the skibidi is going on with the English language?

More than 6,000 new words showed up in the Cambridge Dictionary: words like “tradwife,” “delulu,” and yep, “skibidi.” That one means…well, whatever you want it to mean.

Christian Ilbury is a lecturer on sociolinguistics. He says there’s something about short internet videos that lend itself to this.

ILBURY: Because they’re based on kind of a limited attention economy.

So, not paying attention, so people think up distinctive ways to talk and get noticed.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: If you don’t know your tradwives from your rizzlers, don’t be all delulu. Just look it up! And if none of this makes sense to you?

RECIHARD: Ask a teenager. They’re fluent.

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