Language in motion

New Word Wall

A place to study language in society, from the smallest utterance to the largest questions about what it means to be human.

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Language, at every scale

New Word Wall follows language where it is actually happening: in a conversation, on a street sign, across a screen, inside a community, and in the theories we use to understand one another.

The site moves between scales without treating any of them as too ordinary or too abstract:

Listen closely: to sound, syntax, stories, names, silence, slang, and the meanings people make together.
Look outward: at language as culture, institution, landscape, technology, identity, and power.
Make connections: between linguistic theory and lived experience, between a single word and the world that gives it force.

Field notesJournalObservations on words, speech, culture, and the meanings we live inside. Longer questionsResearchProjects connecting linguistics with society, place, and human experience. Close readingWordsA focused archive of new terms, old terms in new lives, and the stories around them.

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Read a word, follow a question, notice a pattern, or get in touch with an idea. New Word Wall is founded in Colorado and available for collaborations.

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Doomscrolling

Definition Compulsively scrolling through negative or anxiety-inducing news or social media content. Origin The term emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic and became associated with excessive digital media consumption. Example “I stayed up until 2 AM doomscrolling TikTok and news feeds.” Related Terms digital fatigue algorithmic anxiety information overload

Singaid

Singaid (idiom, idiomatic expression) Pronunciation /siŋ-eɪd/ or /sɪŋ-eɪd/ sing as in “sing” or “sin” with a g (depending on dialect) aid as in “aid”—offering help. Defintion Said to someone who has just hiccuped, as a polite remark; a remark offering good wishes of hiccups passing. Like the English expression bless you, which is often used when someone is sneezing, singaid is a polite expression towards someone with the hiccups. Use of the word singaid person one: *has the hiccups* ...

New Word Wall#

Language, at every scale#

Start anywhere#

New Word Wall

Language, at every scale

Start anywhere