Something I have not seen discussed is the highly dynamic semantics of the annoying Gen Alpha variant of BrainRot. It has this fascinating aspect of slang with meanings that can shift in combination with other terms: Skibidi, Sigma, 6-7, Ohio -- Not only do these have flexible semantics in the first place, their meaning can dynamically change in the context of other such terms... if any meaning is intended at all.
As an example, "sigma" could be used as "He's so sigma!" (positive connotations) or "What the sigma!" (negative connotations) or "Sigma skibidi Ohio!" (what the sigma?!?)
And then there are suffixes like "maxxing" which seem straightforward ("bench-maxxing") but can be used in creative combinations, like somebody used "second-story-maxxing" to mean "going upstairs." Not quite Shakespeare, but funny.
I am no linguist but this seems unprecedented. At least ChatGPT thinks there is precedence, but only gave examples of nonsense terms in literature (like "The Jabberwocky") and counter-cultural slang or art (like Dadaism) or meanings that shifted over time.
However this idea of semi-defined words and memes that get combinatorially and dynamically redefined -- or even undefined -- seems different. I think this is more than just The Algorithm, it's more a spillover of a subculture into the mainstream. It's like slang that has intentionally internalized trolling and arbitrary word-coining as part of normal discourse.
>>> However this idea of semi-defined words and memes that get combinatorially and dynamically redefined -- or even undefined -- seems different
Take a look back at Shakespeare again. Every line has this sort of semantic shapeshifting quality, where the meaning and intent can be radically changed, sometimes multiple times, after each successive line, and on top of that, the rhyme and meter are all proper and structured. Sometimes the puns and memes and 5 dimensional wordplay are really dependent on knowing the culture and current events of the time, but a whole lot of it hits on human basics.
It'd be really cool if a whole generation had that sort of wordplay and meta-meme construction kit baked into their slang, and kids are growing up in worlds where meaning and memes are radically changing in ways humans have never dealt with before. Makes sense that their language would be malleable and suited to purpose.
I had a great literature teacher who took pains to point out all the wordplay in Shakespeare's plays in the context of the culture his time. I recall a surprising amount of them being pretty naughty double-entendres! Some of our slang today can still be traced back to those.
However, their meanings were still static in nature, even if manyfold and cleverly embedded in there. E.g. when he coined new words, they had a meaning you could derive from the context. Unlike "Skibidi," which is essentially meaningless and can be stuffed anywhere randomly!
To put it another way, I would not put the kids I overhear these days anywhere near the skill-level of the Bard ;-) Brain rot is very dynamic and off-the-cuff, with a key enabler being that meaning can be entirely optional. And they riff off of each other and random memes. Almost like jazz in some sense.
I think what you said at the end makes sense. There's always been a language barrier between generations, but the gaps are growing faster. As the world gets weirder and weirder accelerated by technology, human language is evolving in ways that are surprising.
It used to annoy me that many SciFi authors would immerse you in the jargon of some unrecognizable, futuristic culture without any exposition, forcing you to figure out over time -- and sometimes guess at -- what words meant. Now I'm living it!