I'm still trying to understand tiktok because my youngest is into it, but gosh everything I see is super limp and trite (maybe the algorithm knows me better than I know myself). But for specialist vocab in social media spaces, you can't beat tumblr - 'blorbo from my show', 'they very much did kill jesus', 'live slug reaction'... Intended in this case to discourage casuals I suppose, but still fun. if you have now sworn off twitter for ever (and I don't blame you) tumblr is surprisingly welcoming :)
The TikTok language thing reminds me of one of the theories that early Cockney Rhyming slang was used by the criminal fraternity to discuss dubious matters, unrecognised by the authorities who weren't familiar with it or couldn't decipher it.
Love the piece about opsimaths - having returned to HE at 58 (art college for a degree in photography) I completely concur about finding your “thing” at any age
That’s great to hear — i did a masters at the open university when I was a sub editor and it was nice to learn something for the sake of it, if you see what I mean
Misread virality as virility. Maybe it was intentional; it certainly works.
Brilliant read, as always!
Conor is teaching me a great deal about medicine, along with his dexterous goo-wrangling.
I'm still trying to understand tiktok because my youngest is into it, but gosh everything I see is super limp and trite (maybe the algorithm knows me better than I know myself). But for specialist vocab in social media spaces, you can't beat tumblr - 'blorbo from my show', 'they very much did kill jesus', 'live slug reaction'... Intended in this case to discourage casuals I suppose, but still fun. if you have now sworn off twitter for ever (and I don't blame you) tumblr is surprisingly welcoming :)
The TikTok language thing reminds me of one of the theories that early Cockney Rhyming slang was used by the criminal fraternity to discuss dubious matters, unrecognised by the authorities who weren't familiar with it or couldn't decipher it.
I’ve never heard that before! The US Navy recruited Navajo speakers in WWII on the basis it was easier than coming up with a code.
Speaking of the US Navy and truth-concealing jargon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friend_of_Dorothy#Military_investigation
Love the piece about opsimaths - having returned to HE at 58 (art college for a degree in photography) I completely concur about finding your “thing” at any age
That’s great to hear — i did a masters at the open university when I was a sub editor and it was nice to learn something for the sake of it, if you see what I mean
Separately - if Wordle is now too easy, try https://playcladder.com/ - not hard, but the time pressure makes it fun!
Thanks! I’ll put this recommendation in the next newsletter.