While I was scrolling through Instagram I saw multiple reels using slang words like bruzz. This got me thinking: what is language? And how has it evolved to the English we see today?
According to Oxford Languages, language is defined as the principal method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing, or gesture. Although language has a clear and refined definition, the one thing it does not address is its evolution through time and how it continues to progress to the point where Americans from the 1950s would find it difficult to comprehend the English we speak today. Why is this? What has changed the English language so drastically, to the point where it would be virtually unintelligible to Americans of years past?
This is because of the trend of shortening words. This trend started as far back as 1066 in the battle of Hastings when William the Conqueror took over England and imported the Norman French language that would meld with the remaining Anglo-Saxon language to resemble the kind of English spoken today, instead of the old English that the Anglo Saxons used to speak where their English involved a lot more inflections in verbs, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns. While this example is a lot more major than others it still shows how the trend of simplification when it comes to English is not a new one and has a long history when it comes to changes in the language.
The shortening of the English language goes on for decades such as in the 1950s when Bash meant many things, from somebody talking too much to a good party and bad news. In the 1960s the term Fuzz became popular, Fuzz commonly refers to the police. In addition in the 70s money came to be known as bread. So in the 1980s “Duh” became very popular and is still prominent slang to this day. In the 1990s fly was a popular slang term that has died off. The 2000s had lit as popular slang and was meant to accentuate the grandeur of something like a party being lit. The 2010s had the term Fam as a term of endearment for loved ones, or friends you saw as family. 2020 had the term hop off, it means to mind your business. In 2024, we have slang like Bruzz, Alpha, Sigma, and Skibid. While only bruzz has any real meaning of being bros because of the pronunciation bruzz is slightly faster to say than bros.
The trend of shortening words shows no signs of stopping anytime soon, and I look forward to seeing what kind of asinine slang will be created in the future.
