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Race and the language of incels

Figurative neologisms in an emerging English cryptolect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2022

Ksenija Bogetić Open the ORCID record for Ksenija Bogetić [Opens in a new window]
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Extract

It is often observed that in modern English no political movement has created an internet jargon with the speed and range of the alt-right. Recently, however, we are seeing a specifically misogynist strand of this jargon shoot up, coming from the growing online anti-feminist network known as the Manosphere, and specifically its popularly best known outpost of ‘incels’. The neologisms being produced by incels have come to form a true cryptolect, developing at a rate that almost escapes linguistic description; at the same time, the elements of this cryptolect are quickly infiltrating broader popular culture and global vernacular contexts, from social media to Urban Dictionary (Ging, Lynn & Rosati, 2020).

Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , June 2023 , pp. 89 - 99
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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