The Etymology Nerd | Adam Aleksic | Substack's Avatar

The Etymology Nerd | Adam Aleksic | Substack

@etymology.substack.com.web.brid.gy

linguistic ruminations and updates. Click to read The Etymology Nerd, by Adam Aleksic, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers. [bridged from https://etymology.substack.com/ on the web: https://fed.brid.gy/web/etymology.substack.com ]

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Posts 01.02.2025
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Latest posts by The Etymology Nerd | Adam Aleksic | Substack @etymology.substack.com.web.brid.gy

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the rise of pseudo-trends how we created a simulation of language
28.12.2025 21:31 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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the non-places of social media One of the many insidious effects of technological advancement is that more of our places are becoming non-places.
22.12.2025 21:47 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
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the importance of not knowing It’s human nature to be inquisitive.
03.12.2025 05:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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platform logic how tech companies structure our conversations
28.11.2025 22:12 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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67, clip farming, and the panopticon Last month, Dictionary.com chose “67” as its word of the year, and I’m not surprised in the slightest.
19.11.2025 19:38 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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your phone is a fake house The wooden stairs in my childhood home had a creaky step.
14.11.2025 20:54 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1
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the gooner and the caveman A man in a gnome hat stands on a soapbox.
29.10.2025 20:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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feeling without thinking There are two ways you can look at media: immerse yourself, or detach yourself.
17.10.2025 11:39 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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notes on slop “Slop” is subjectively defined, and yet shares certain universal features: it is always seen as negative, and connotes mass distribution to an ignorant group of consumers.
11.10.2025 19:58 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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why platforms are killing the hashtag Today I write in anticipatory nostalgia for the cornerstone of a more democratic internet—one which is slowly being stolen from us.
05.10.2025 20:45 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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the engagement economy how we replaced attention with its own metric
17.09.2025 21:19 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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how to look at social media a guide for regaining agency in the algorithmic milieu
08.09.2025 05:09 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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what the evils of TV reveal about the evils of social media Any time I think too hard about how social media is affecting us, I always end up back at the television.
02.09.2025 15:06 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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neural networks are changing our vibes Last week, I published two op-eds that initially seem unrelated but actually aren’t.
25.08.2025 22:14 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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against content I’ve always felt that it’s very strange to have “followers” on social media.
12.08.2025 05:00 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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stay on your phone (within reason)
05.08.2025 07:14 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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how social media subjugates us You’re hunched over on the toilet, pants around your ankles, watching me on TikTok.
25.07.2025 15:02 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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algorithmic performativity Chat, we all act differently when we’re being watched.
19.07.2025 20:44 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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ALGOSPEAK IS NOW OUT IN BOOKSTORES oh my god it’s been a crazy week.
15.07.2025 11:30 👍 6 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1
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I see more stars online than in the sky ✨ At some point in the last century, we collectively began looking at more representations of stars than stars themselves.
04.07.2025 16:17 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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social media and the collapse of ritual Museums have kind of been freaking me out recently.
21.06.2025 20:07 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Algospeak is out in ONE MONTH mom can you pick me up i'm scared
15.06.2025 18:04 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1
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banality of the algorithm This Tuesday, my father and I drove up to Bard College to pay our respects to the grave of Hannah Arendt.
06.06.2025 18:18 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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why you should be smelling more things One of the silly little quirks of being human is that we pretend that some experiences are more real than others.
01.06.2025 20:33 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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you're literally worshipping your phone how scrolling becomes a religious act
18.05.2025 18:41 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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what the “algorithm” is, what you think it is, and why those aren't the same Isn’t it so convenient how I can upload a video to TikTok, and then the algorithm immediately understands that you’re my target audience?
09.05.2025 20:15 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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the default isn't always best “I woke up as the sun was reddening; and that was the one distinct time in my life, the strangest moment of all, when I didn't know who I was.”
05.05.2025 13:49 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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there is no online authenticity at the end of the day, everything is slop
28.04.2025 10:52 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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substack's discoverability paradox I don’t think I’ve ever outwardly articulated my goals on social media, so here goes:
25.04.2025 07:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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algorithms are killing coincidences. what does that mean for language? Let’s start with the basics: humans do not think like machines do.
19.04.2025 06:37 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0