trendy words

Trendy Words in Taiwan Part 1

Hello all ThinkTaiwan.com readers. This is my first time to write on this site and I am very excited now. I cannot wait to share you something about Taiwan. Taiwan is really a nice place to visit and live. I have already planned some topics to share with you guys but I am not going to tell you now as I want to maintain some mystery. The first post here in ThinkTaiwan.com is 潮語 (trendy words) in Taiwan.

What is Trendy Words?

潮語, trendy words, some may say trendy expressions or slang, are those expressions which created by a crowd. Thanks to the social media, these days information is spreading extremely fast on the internet. Every place has their own trendy words and Taiwan, of cause, has its own trendy words. Usually, most of the trendy words are new combination of words to form a new meaning. They usually reflect the society and are satire and humor. When some stupid or interesting issue has happened, someone may create a new word. If the internet users like it and start sharing on Facebook and Twitter, more people know. And finally when a new expression goes viral crazily, it will become the trendy language naturally. This is going to be a series of posts since there are too many trendy words in Taiwan and many of them are interesting. Therefore, I am going to explain them in more detail than just explaining the meaning. Are you ready for part 1? Let’s go!
trendy words
Lit: 潮: 潮流 Trend; 語: 語言 words, expressions, languages
Meaning: Trendy word. Use as a noun.
To kick off this series, I would like to talk more about this word. Actually, 潮語 itself is already a trendy word. Before the social media appear, there is no such expression. As I said before, trendy words are popular because of the invention of social media and the internet. 潮語 are exploding also because they are highly expressive. Just one or two words can already express a meaning which you may need a few sentences to explain without them. Due to trendy words are simple to use and expressive, they are now used in people daily life.

However, some of them are not using with correct grammar, philologists worry about teenagers would confuse them with the formal language. Consequently, the popularity of 潮語 is still controversy in the society. Anyway, the occurrence of trendy words and its application is reflecting the society cultures and changes.

The born of 潮語 and its popularity is irreversible society trend. Language is actually a social phenomenon. It is one of the most important communication tool and also directly showing some kind of thinking. 潮語 or trendy words are the culture which show some rebellious mentality.

They are rebelling the old school, stubborn and boring “old language” evil forces. To some degree, it is showing another attitude of culture. Most of 潮語 are representing hysterically life style and blowing off the boring life and language.
How do you guys think about 潮語? Do you think this trend have positive effect or negative effect to the society? I would like to hear your opinions.