All Ears English Podcast – Episode 2563

"Is Brainrot Taking Over the Dictionary?"

Air date: February 10, 2026

Hosts: Lindsey McMahon & Aubrey Carter

Episode Overview

In this episode, Lindsey and Aubrey dive into 2025's "words of the year" as chosen by three major dictionaries, focusing on how current digital trends, AI, and online behavior are influencing English vocabulary. The hosts explore the rise and fall of viral slang like "six-seven," the infiltration of AI “slop” in online content, and the manipulative nature of “rage bait.” Along the way, they reflect on the meanings, origins, cultural implications, and shelf life of these trending phrases, providing both linguistic insight and cultural commentary.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Word of the Year" Trend

• Different dictionaries choose different words each year, often reflecting major cultural or technological shifts.
• In 2025, the selected words all centered around digital media trends, online behaviors, and AI's impact.
• Listener-inspired: The topic was sparked by a question from Rory in Singapore, wondering about the new trendy phrase "six-seven."
  (03:06)

2. "Six-Seven" – Dictionary.com's Word of the Year

• Origin: From the song "Do Do 67" by Skrilla.

• Further popularized: Through video edits featuring basketball player LaMelo Ball (6’7”), with kids mimicking the phrase with a hand gesture.

• Viral Meme: Became a nonsense chant among youth, described as “annoying and like a plague” – a perfect example of ‘brain rot,’ digital media content that's silly, pervasive, and of low value.

• Shelf Life: Rose and fell quickly—“six months, maybe.” Now, kids groan if someone uses it, as adults co-opted and thus “killed” it.
  [05:00–07:38]

• Usage Example: When the volleyball score was 6-7, everyone would say "six-seven" in a singsong way, just for the joke.

  “Every time anyone said six-seven, kids at first would say six-seven and go like that. Ah. And it was ... this brain rot phenomenon where like digital media that's of poor quality or makes no sense and is just silly kind of takes over the world all of a sudden.”
  —Lindsey McMahon (05:27)

3. “Slop” – Webster’s Word of the Year

• Definition: “Slop” refers to digital content, especially produced by AI, that’s of low quality—absurd, bland, poorly written, clickbait, or obviously fake/AI-generated.

• Word History:

  • 1700s: “Soft mud”
  • 1800s: Food waste (pig slop)
  • Modern: General refuse or low-value product, now digital content

• Cultural Impact: Hosts reminisce about slop being what’s fed to pigs; now, “AI is feeding us the slop.”

• Usage Example:

  • “My feed is full of AI slop.”
  • “I almost forwarded an article before realizing it was just AI slop thrown together for clicks.”
    [08:05–10:17]

  “Now AI is feeding us the slop. I love it.”
  —Aubrey Carter (09:32)

  “Even podcasts that are AI slop. There are podcasts out there that you can find and listen to that are hosted by AI bots, which to me is insane.”
  —Aubrey Carter (10:39)

4. "Rage Bait" – Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year

• Definition: Online content, especially comments or headlines meant to deliberately provoke anger, outrage, or heated debate to drive views and engagement.

• Origins: First seen online in 2002 (re: road rage), but now applies more to digital media.

• Algorithmic Incentive: Algorithms reward rage bait with clicks and shares.

• Ethical Debate: Are we being manipulated by slop and rage bait? What, if anything, can/should be done?

• Usage Example:

  • “Don’t reply to that post, it’s obviously rage bait.”
    [12:45–15:02]

  “Comments, articles that are deliberately annoying someone in order to get clicks and views and comments.”
  —Lindsey McMahon (12:50)

  “That headline felt like pure rage bait.”
  —Aubrey Carter (14:57)

5. A Role Play: Bringing It All Together

Lindsey and Aubrey illustrate the new terms in a conversation:
[16:02–18:25]

• Example:

  • Aubrey: “Did you see that post about banning coffee before work?”
  • Lindsey: “Oh yeah. I’m pretty sure it’s rage bait.”
  • Aubrey: “I guess that makes sense. I feel like I saw six or seven slop articles just today.”
  • Lindsey (joking): “Six-seven.”

• Humor about how adults can't make viral phrases cool:

  “I intentionally didn’t make you ever have to say it. I’ll have me be the one to say it.”
  —Lindsey McMahon (18:12) “There’s a reason adults aren’t doing this.”
  —Lindsey McMahon (17:11)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On “six-seven”:

  “Adults killed it. ... I had conversations with my friends where we were like, we're intentionally going ‘six, seven’. And then the kids are like, no. Ah, cause that, you know, we were too old to say that.”
  —Lindsey McMahon (05:57)

• On slop:

  “There are podcasts out there ... hosted by AI bots, which to me is insane. I mean, that's just my opinion. No, thank you. Not interested.”
  —Aubrey Carter (10:39)

• On rage bait and digital culture:

  “Often news media outlets will know they'll get more clicks, more attention, more comments if they stir up people's emotions and they're happy to aim for negative emotions.”
  —Lindsey McMahon (15:02)

• On the challenges for ESL learners/adults:

  “Do you think that ... the Gen X generation, the parents of Gen Z, can they ever invent a phrase or is it just the young ... that can actually invent a phrase?”
  —Aubrey Carter (16:46)

Important Timestamps

• 02:04 Introduction to "Word of the Year" topic
• 03:06 Listener question from Rory about “six-seven”
• 05:00 Explaining “six-seven,” its rise and fall
• 08:05 Introduction and discussion of “slop”
• 10:39 On AI-generated podcasts and content
• 12:45 “Rage bait”—definition and impact
• 16:02 Role play using all three trending words
• 18:40 Takeaway: What the trends say about online discourse

Episode Takeaways

• Language evolves with pop and tech culture: Dictionary “words of the year” reflect how digital trends impact vocabulary.
• Trendy slang can rise and fade rapidly: Viral phrases like “six-seven” highlight generational divides and the fleeting nature of internet culture.
• Beware “slop” and “rage bait”: Recognizing low-quality AI content and manipulative headlines is vital for healthy online consumption.
• Great topics for conversation: These trends are ripe for ESL learners to discuss with native speakers, focusing not just on words and meanings but on their broader cultural implications.

Hosts’ advice:
"It’s definitely really good advice to not click those articles. Like to be able to start recognizing rage bait or AI generated articles and not looking at them. ... Don’t just get your news on Facebook."
—Lindsey McMahon (18:40)

Listener challenge: Notice new internet slang in your feeds and try to decode—or discuss—the cultural forces that shape it!