The Ben Shapiro Show – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Ben Shapiro DESTROYS Words of the Year
Date: December 24, 2025
Host: Ben Shapiro (The Daily Wire)

Overview

In this episode, Ben Shapiro dives into the “Words of the Year” as selected by various prominent dictionaries in 2025. He examines each word, unpacks their cultural and societal implications, and delivers take-no-prisoners commentary on what these choices say about modern life, technology, and language. The episode humorously critiques how contemporary linguistics and tech trends intersect, underlining the ways they reflect ongoing transformations in society.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Oxford Dictionary: Rage Bait

• Definition & Origin:
  • "Rage bait" refers to content posted online specifically to provoke anger and drive engagement.
  • First appeared in 2002 on Usenet describing “deliberate attempts to provoke” (01:20).
  • Used today to gain clicks and virality by making people angry.
• Ben’s Analysis:
  • Relevance acknowledged: “A lot of rage bait being posted online these days… that’s what rage bait is all about.” (01:59)
  • Differentiates between content meant to anger versus mere trolling.
  • Notes that the online environment is engineered to maximize this emotional manipulation:

    “You do not experience rage bait nearly as much in your real life as you do in the online space. The online space is programmed to give you the stuff that generates a viral emotional response.” (02:36)

• Takeaway:
  • Shapiro agrees it’s a “pretty good word of the year,” pointing out its accuracy in describing modern digital experiences.

Macquarie (Australian English): AI Slop

• Definition & Evolution:
  • Initially meant low-quality, error-filled generative AI content (“Will Smith eating spaghetti” memes).
  • Now includes clickable, seemingly real but AI-faked content, e.g., fake viral videos (03:22).
• Ben’s Commentary:
  • Observes the meaning shift as AI grows more sophisticated—slop now just means “AI content you don’t want or that’s made just to get clicks”.
  • Jests:

    “People with nine fingers and such… now, AI slop just means AI that I don't want, or AI that I don't like…” (03:44)

  • Notes this reflects changing perceptions as technology improves.
• Insight:
  • Reflects society’s ongoing struggle to evaluate authenticity and value in an AI-saturated media landscape.

Cambridge Dictionary: Parasocial

• Definition:
  • “A connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they don’t know, a fictional character, or artificial intelligence.” (04:30)
  • Term dates to 1956, but is now mainstream due to online culture.
• Ben’s Take:
  • Critiques the rise of “emotional investment in people they don’t know” via online personas and celebrities.

    “Because our connection with reality has become so weak, because we spend so much time online, it is easier and easier to form these parasocial relationships…” (05:09)

  • Points out parasocial dynamics aren’t just celebrity-focused; they also apply to faceless online interactions.
• Theme:
  • Shapiro sees this as proof technology is eroding authentic social relationships.

Collins Dictionary: Vibe Coding

• Definition:
  • “The use of AI prompted by natural language to assist with the writing of computer code.” (06:08)
  • Coined by OpenAI’s Andrej Karpathy, as “giving in to the vibes, embrace exponentials and forget that the code even exists.”
• Shapiro’s Perspective:
  • Views this as a positive, democratizing force:

    “Knowing how to code was a barrier to entry… being able to code just by typing in some prompts is pretty incredible.” (06:42)

  • Acknowledges his surprise that so many words of the year are tied up in technology and AI.
• Nuance:
  • Vibe coding could be both a leap forward for creation and another sign tech is reshaping cognitive skills.

Dictionary.com: 67

• Definition & Context:
  • "67" isn’t a word; it’s a random phrase popular among kids as a meme and group in-joke.
  • Shapiro explains with help from Perplexity’s Comet:

    “67 is a mostly nonsense catchphrase kids yell as a joke and in-group signal. It does not have one real fixed meaning. So it's very postmodern.” (07:33)

  • Tracked back to a rap song lyric, viral NBA edit, and meme videos, but now used for humor and group bonding.
  • Ben shares a personal anecdote: “My kids don’t know where it came from. They just know that all their friends use it.” (08:41)
• Ben’s Critique:
  • Uses the reference from The Fugitive:

    “Don’t use words that have no meaning around me. I’m a Tommy Lee Jones, okay?” (09:14)

  • Views it as an example of “stupidities” going viral for no reason.
• Theme:
  • The spread of meaningless language among youth as a sign of linguistic postmodernism.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Social Manipulation Online:

  “The general idea is that most Americans, now a huge number of Americans and people globally, are being emotionally manipulated in the online space by stories that sometimes are true and sometimes are false, but are all rage bait.” (02:11)

• On AI Content:

  “When AI slop first got presented, it was this doesn't look as good as human crafted stuff… But now… it looks pretty much identical to reality.” (03:44)

• On Parasocial Relationships:

  “Even the people you quote unquote, do know, you don't really know… That is a form of parasocial relationship.” (05:28)

• On Vibe Coding:

  “Do I think vibe coding is bad? No, actually, I think that probably we're going to get some pretty incredible apps because of vibe coding…” (06:38)

• On Linguistic Fads:

  “It demonstrates that stupidities can go viral with the young at any time. And there's a long history of words that are sort of like the 6, 7 in group signals that kids use that don't mean anything.” (08:55)
  “Don’t use words that have no meaning around me. I’m a Tommy Lee Jones, okay?” (09:14)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:17] “Rage Bait” – Oxford Dictionary word of the year
• [03:00] “AI Slop” – Macquarie Dictionary choice and its evolving meaning
• [04:30] “Parasocial” – Cambridge Dictionary and the rise of pseudo-relationships online
• [06:08] “Vibe Coding” – Collins Dictionary’s tech-driven choice
• [07:33] “67” – Dictionary.com’s meme-inspired selection
• [08:55] Critique of viral nonsense words and comparison to past slang

Overall Tone & Final Thoughts

• Tone: Characteristically fast-paced, sharp, and tinged with skepticism, Ben offers wry humor mixed with genuine concern about cultural and technological trends.
• Summary: The episode unpacks deeper societal changes reflected in language—chiefly, how tech shapes emotional reactions, online relationships, and even the way young people build community through inside jokes and memes. Shapiro invites listeners to reflect on the consequences of these shifts: the blurring line between real and fake, the atomization and commodification of social bonds, and the ceaseless churn of internet-born fads.
• Call-to-Action:

  “If you have words that you think ought to have been the word of the year, submit them below and we'll see you here in a bit.” (09:23)

For listeners: This episode is an incisive, sometimes playful look at how the ‘words of the year’ both reveal and provoke our anxieties about tech, truth, and meaning in the modern era.