The Long Terms

It's hard to understand any technology if you don't understand it's language.

As with any field of specialization, the insiders seem to speak a secret language, where not the nuance but even the day to day terms sound like ancient Sumerian (whatever that sounded like) to the average person.

Because digital technology is ubiquitous, we've all had to learn some of the terms, but sometimes when you're using techspeak you'll catch an eyeroll or smirk from someone who really knows what the words mean.

In fact, though, the terms used by professionals in any world can be adopted by others, and end up meaning something altogether different or irreverent. And the technologies themselves will often spread a new words or the use of a word or phrase that needs a way to express the new situation. Think of "on hold." Telephones hadn't been around all that long in the 1960s when the idea of being left "on hold" to wait until someone could "pick up" the phone was significant enough that a term was needed to express the annoyance of simply waiting and hoping a "dial tone" won't tell you you've been "hung up" on.

If you go back far enough in time, you'll be equally flummoxed (yes, that's a real word!) by techno-terms, both specific and situational.

Like:

Aeolipile:  A simple, bladeless radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated. Torque is produced by steam jets exiting the turbine. (Wikipedia) "The so-called Hero motor, first described in 1 AD, was a toy until 1500 years later when it was discovered it could input mechanical motion." (YouTube, Motor Explorer)

Shadoof: (water lifter). Operating on the principle of a lever, a shadoof or shaduf was also known as well pole, well sweep, sweep, swape, or simply a lift. It was used to lift water from a well or another water source onto land or into another waterway or basin. It is highly efficient, and has been known since 3000 BCE. (Wikipedia)

Did you know that the commonly used expression "out of sorts" initially referred to a type-setters having run out of a specific letter for laying out copy for the press?

Perhaps you weren't aware that a computer "bug" originally might have referred to a real bug - a literal insect that caused issues in early computers (popularized by a moth in 1947).

 A "motherboard" is (was?) so known because it was the one that was central to all the other functions of a computer, keeping the CPU, RAM and storage all cooperating nicely til bed time.

And "spam" of course was the mystery meat of your inbox - the word made up for canned ham (and stuff) popularized by Monty Python and used with relish by all.

But as with anything, words continue to be adopted for new uses, invented, confusingly co-opted, and often are the property of not just insiders, but the younger crowd who have grown up with the tools they're referring to, and thus feel a sense of entitlement when it comes to nick-naming them, or referring to a specific feature or function.

In this case, it's the so-called Gen Alpha, with generous assistance from Gen Z and the Millennials who seem to be in control. If you're perhaps wondering how Gen Alpha (those born in 2010-2024) could have anything to say about it, you'd be surprised at how much the leading edge of that generation uses its own language, much of it having to do with the tools and technology they use every day, and have used since they could hold a device.

Here are some examples of new references to technology, tech culture, and terms and language that were spread as a result of it.

AI slop: the constant campaigns of "news and information" spewed by AI, designed to anger, incite, trick or misinform viewers.

Copium: an Internet slang term that combines the words "cope" and "opium." It is used to describe a metaphorical, fictional drug that people "inhale" or "huff" to help them deal with a loss, failure, or, most commonly, to sustain a state of denial in the face of disappointing reality. (Reddit)

Deepfake: using AI to create a video (or audio) file that appears real, often putting a public figure into a compromised position, or creating an event that ignites anger and frustration. In the old days, a "Photoshopped" image might pass briefly as real, but was fairly quickly identified as what it was. With modern AI generated images and sounds, it's becoming somewhat harder to spot.

Glow-up: an improvement in looks, attitude, style. This seems to have originated in music, but has been accentuated by the ability people have to "filter" their looks for perfection.

Influencer: this is a job that didn't exist a few decades back. Well, the "work" did - it was typically a rich or famous or notorious person's style, preferences likes and dislikes that would be adopted and adored by their fans. But it was a by-product of their station in life or other activities, like a movie star's. Now it's an actual job description, with people identifying themselves as an "influencer," and proving the point by getting paid because the audience listening to them is large enough to reward them for talking about what they like, dislike, and are doing that day.

Gadget: a device. Just another way of saying it. Or perhaps an added element for a device.

'Verse: the meta-verse, or the digital universe.

Algorithm: this word goes all the way back to medieval Latin, but now refers to a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer. Where it applies to users is how a need will be answered, or what the algorithm will demand of the user in order to work with it.

Content/content creation: a key concept in social media, and for that matter, more and more key in media of all kinds these days. Content is the whole story being told: what it's about, how it's told, who tells it, who it appeals to, how much attention does it get. A content creator is the person who comes up with a clever, new, thoughtful, interesting way of obtaining and telling an interesting story, from a news piece to a clever trick to a sticky meme.

And speaking of content creation, do you know what a Skibidi Toilet is? I didn't think so!