Episode 84 - Daria Bahtina and 'Gen Z slang'

Welcome to episode 84 of Lexis in which we have both an interview and a Lang in the News segment. Amanda and Dan talk to Dr Daria Bahtina, Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics at UCLA about a lot of things, including:Generational slang and online vernacularWhether any slang is ever truly ‘meaningless’The rapid pace of slang generation, diffusion and disappearance in an online worldWhat happens when slang leaves niche communities and gets picked up more widelyMoral panics around slang and online vernacularThe project work Daria does with her students and tips for A level English Language teachers and students about successful projectsGuardian articles Daria is quoted in: The Pentagon says it’s ‘lethalitymaxxing’. Why has ‘incel’ slang crossed into the mainstream? | Language | The Guardian(https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/mar/01/incel-slang-mainstream-government-media)Slang terms like ‘six-seven’ have no definition. But they’re loaded with meaning | Matthew Cantor | The Guardian(https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/30/six-seven-meaning-slang) Daria’s UCLA pages:https://linguistics.ucla.edu/person/daria-bahtina/Daria’s Languaged Life blog:https://languagedlife.ucla.edu/ The book Daria recommends: https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/language-and-social-issues/5C1D0C2F61B4D0ADA69AE7024EF1E1E2#overview Our Lang in the News segment returns too! Lisa, Jacky and Dan talk about stories in the media about slang, appropriation and appreciation, discussing articles from the Mail Online, The Guardian, the Mississippi Clarion Ledger (yes, it is real) and a new paper by two of our previous guests, Christian Ilbury and Rianna Walcott. Articles: https://eu.clarionledger.com/story/news/2026/03/16/new-slang-67-what-does-lowkenuinely-mean-how-to-use-it/89180944007/ Christian Ilbury & Rianna Walcott - Gen Z Language? Y'all Mean AAVE’: The Appropriation of African American Vernacular English as ‘TikTok Language’https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josl.70024 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/30/six-seven-meaning-slang Lexis is on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/lexispodcast.bsky.social ContributorsLisa Casey blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ Dan Clayton blog: EngLangBlog & Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/englangblog.bsky.social Jacky Glancey Raj RanaMatthew Butler Music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys Revealed: The slang words and phrases experts are calling to be BANISHED in 2026 - with '6,7' topping the list