Adam Aleksic

Adam Viktor Aleksic (/əˈlɛksɪk/ ə-LEK-sik; born January 3, 2001),^[1][2] known online as Etymology Nerd,^[3] is an American linguist and content creator who produces videos exploring the origins of words, particularly neologisms and slang as it exists within digital culture. He began exploring word origins in 2016 through his blog. Aleksic studied at Harvard University, during which he gained attention for his educational TikTok videos on linguistics and language in 2023. In 2025, he published Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language.

Early life and education

Aleksic grew up in Albany, New York. His parents were atmospheric scientists who worked at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. His mother studied air pollution, while his father was a cloud physics expert.^[3] His parents immigrated to the United States from Serbia in the 1990s.^{[† 1]}

He discovered etymology during a visit to a bookstore in Cambridge, England in March 2016 while reading the 2011 publication The Etymologicon by English author Mark Forsyth. He stated that it fascinated him, calling it "the perfect bridge between history and language, two previous interests of mine."^[4] From 2017 to 2019, Aleksic received awards in essay competitions organized by the Albany-Tula Alliance, getting third place in 2017, first place in 2018, and again third place in 2019.^[5] For his 2018 essay, he was awarded a scholarship of $1,000.^[6] During his second year, he established the Geography Bee at Albany High School to raise geographical awareness within the school.^[7]

While at Harvard, Aleksic was involved in writing, acting, and directing for the Kirkland Drama Society, served as the social chair for both the Harvard quiz bowl team and the Science Fiction Association, and established the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he started "Week Week" in the Kirkland House with his friends, promoting creative methods to bring residents together. For his efforts, he received the Aloian Memorial Scholarship in 2022.^[8][9] Aleksic later mentioned that he helped create the "Choosening" ceremony, where a new theme is chosen at the beginning of each week. He described it as a cult that was "surprisingly easy" to initiate.^[10][11]

Social media career

In November 2016, Aleksic started the blog Etymology Nerd, where he produced infographics focused on the etymology of various items and geographic locations. He started his geographic locations series after having curiosity about the origin of the Manhattan neighborhood Hell's Kitchen, which led him to create infographics for neighborhood names in other American cities.^{[12][13][14][15]}

In 2023, during his final semester at Harvard, Aleksic started posting linguistics videos on TikTok after a friend suggested the idea. In an interview with The New York Times, he said that each video takes him four to five hours to make, writing a full script and searching Google Scholar for academic papers to include as screenshots.^[3] Several of his videos have gone viral, including ones where he created languages based on animal sounds,^[16] explained the origins of Western surnames through comparison with phone contact names,^[17] and addressed misconceptions about the "gay accent."^[18]

Algospeak

In January 2024, Aleksic began writing a book to explore social media linguistics in depth.^[3] On July 15, 2025, Aleksic published the book Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language, which explores how language has changed because of TikTok and social media algorithms. The book was featured in Our Culture Mag's Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2025.^[19] Algospeak covers in-groups and out-groups, censorship, language appropriation, online extremism, microtrends, clickbait, and generational differences.^[20][21]

The book was well-received by several reviewers. Sadie Dingfelder of The Washington Post said Aleksic represents "the very linguistic shifts he describes" and called the book "valuable" for the way he explains linguistics.^[22] Amy Scribner of BookPage described it as "a fun, illuminating read," but also noted that some parts were "a bummer" because they looked at radicalization and harmful ideas online.^[23] Publishers Weekly called it "an energetic and eye-opening study" of how language is used on social media.^[24] Rachel S. Hunt of the Associated Press called the book a "sobering reality check on how social media is affecting not just our speech, but our entire identities."^[20]

Personal life

Aleksic resides in Manhattan, New York City. He has also lived in Barcelona, Spain.^[25]

In 2021, Aleksic created an online petition to change the flag of Albany, saying that the flag was poorly designed by vexillology standards and was also linked to the Dutch Nazi Party and other white supremacist organizations. Albany council member Owusu Anane submitted a resolution based on this petition.^[26]

References

1. ^ Aleksic, Adam Viktor (2025-07-15). Algospeak (Audiobook). Random House Audio. ISBN 9798217078066.
2. ^ "Adam Aleksic". My Local Authors™. 2025-07-19. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
3. ^ Holtermann, Callie (2025-07-12). "The Harvard-Educated Linguist Breaking Down 'Skibidi' and 'Rizz'". The New York Times
4. ^ Rylah, Juliet Bennett (2018-04-16). "This Infographic Shows the Origin of L.A. Neighborhood Names". We Like L.A.
5. ^ "Albany High students take second, third in essay contest". Albany City School District. 2019-04-04.
6. ^ "Albany High junior takes first prize in essay contest". Capital Education. Albany City School District. 2018.
7. ^ "Albany High's Geography Bee". Albany City School District. 2018-03-02.
8. ^ "2022 Aloian Scholarship Winners". Harvard Magazine. 2022-10-14.
9. ^ Hennessy, Chris (2022-10-05). "2022 Aloian Memorial Scholarship winners announced". Harvard Gazette
10. ^ George, Hannah V. & Williams, Jem K. (2021-11-11). "Every Week, It's a Week". The Harvard Crimson
11. ^ Sajai, Abhiram (2023-08-03). "Former Harvard student who started his own fun 'cult' at the university shares how easy it was". Upworthy
12. ^ Acker, Lizzy (2019-02-27). "The surprising meanings behind Portland's most-unusual neighborhood names". The Oregonian
13. ^ Winberg, Michaela (2018-07-06). "How 43 Philly neighborhoods got their names". Billy Penn
14. ^ Buell, Spencer (2019-04-23). "How Boston's Neighborhoods Got Their Names". Boston
15. ^ Garcia, Carlos (2020-10-19). "Harvard Etymology Student Maps Out Austin Neighborhoods". Spectrum News 1 Austin
16. ^ Tran, Tony Ho (2023-08-05). "How a Harvard Grad Went Viral for Inventing a Dolphin Language". The Daily Beast
17. ^ Greene, Kelley (2024-09-23). "This Guy Went Viral For Explaining How Western Last Names Were Created, And It's The Exact Way We're Adding People To Our Contacts List". BuzzFeed
18. ^ Perry, Tod (2025-01-22). "Harvard linguistics 'nerd' shoots down the biggest misconception about the gay 'accent'". Upworthy
19. ^ Franzini, Sam (2025-05-30). "Our Culture's Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2025". Our Culture Mag
20. ^ Hunt, Rachel S. (2025-07-14). "Book Review: 'Algospeak' shows just how much social media is changing us". Associated Press
21. ^ Turk, Victoria (2025-07-09). "Slay the new slang: check out a guide to social media's baffling lingo". New Scientist
22. ^ Dingfelder, Sadie (2025-07-07). "'Algospeak' says we're living through a linguistic revolution". The Washington Post
23. ^ Scribner, Amy. "Algospeak By Adam Aleksic". BookPage
24. ^ "Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language". Publishers Weekly. 2025.
25. ^ Youn, Soo (2024-05-02). "Some say they can hear an 'Asian American' accent. Others deny it exists.". NBC News
26. ^ Hughes, Steve (2021-01-03). "Councilman wants reexamination of Albany flag once coopted by Dutch Nazis". Times Union

Primary references

1. ^ "a whole new meaning to "linguistic relativity"". August 16, 2024.