Algospeak

A Waterstones Best Book of 2025 & New Statesman Book of the Year 2025

An incredible deep dive into how algorithms, social media and the internet are changing the way we communicate and think, from linguist and content creator Adam Aleksic (aka the @etymologynerd)

"No cap - this bruh slaps and slays." — Adam Grant, author of Think Again

Are we cooked?

The internet has ushered in an unprecedented linguistic upheaval. New slang emerges and goes viral overnight. Accents are shaped or erased on YouTube. Grammatical rules, loopholes, and patterns surface and transform our interactions, social norms and habits. And with over 7 billion internet users, the sheer volume of potential new words is astounding.

In Algospeak, online etymologist Adam Aleksic embarks on an energetic, astonishing journey into language and the internet; revealing the bigger social story of how language shapes us, just as much as we shape it.

Praise for Algospeak

"A must read for anyone seeking to understand how we communicate today." — Taylor Lorenz, author of Extremely Online

"A gift to any word nerd." — Amanda Montell, author of The Age of Magical Overthinking and Cultish