225. 精通网络语言：算法如何改变我们的说话方式

大家好，我是Matt。我非常激动地宣布我们的下一场直播活动。加入Think Fast Talk Smart社区，参与新一期现场录制。活动将于太平洋时间9月16日上午8点举行。我将带来一个简短演讲《倾听的艺术》，随后会进行全球观众的实时问答环节。

Hi, Matt here. I am super excited to announce our next live event. Join the Think Fast Talk Smart community for a new live recording. The event is on September 16 at 8AM Pacific. I'll deliver a short talk called Listen Up, followed by a live Q and A from our global audience.

部分高级会员将有机会通过视频实时向我提问，所有注册参与者都可在直播期间在线提交问题。千万别错过9月16日太平洋时间上午8点这场精彩的'向Matt提问'直播活动。记得通过LinkedIn、YouTube或fastersmarter.iolive报名。我们醒着的时间有三分之一都在工作，但太多人困在已经不适合自己的岗位上。这些困扰我都听过。

A few premium members will have the opportunity to ask me their questions on video in real time, and all registered participants could submit questions online during the live event. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of this amazing live Ask Matt Anything on September 16 at 8AM Pacific. Be sure to sign up on LinkedIn, YouTube, or fastersmarter.iolive. We spend about a third of our waking hours working, but so many people feel stuck in their jobs they've outgrown. I've heard it all.

万一下一步更糟怎么办？我承受不起走错路。失去现有头衔后我是谁？这些感受很真实，也正是许多人感到困顿的原因。这就是今天赞助商strawberry.me的用武之地。

What if the next move is even worse? I can't afford to take the wrong step. Who am I without the title I have? These feelings are real, but they're also why so many people feel stuck. That's where today's sponsor, strawberry.me comes in.

他们会为你匹配认证职业教练，帮助你从现状走向真正想要的位置。就像是职业治疗师。教练能帮你排除干扰，明确下一步，将模糊目标转化为有问责机制的现实计划，推动你持续前进。让教练为你保驾护航，掌控未来。访问strawberry.mesmart领取50美元优惠券立即开始。

They connect you with a certified career coach who helps you go from where you are to where you actually want to be. It's like therapy for your career. A coach helps you cut through the noise, define your next move and turn vague goals into a real world plan with accountability that keeps you moving forward. Own your future with a coach in your corner. Go to strawberry.mesmart to claim your $50 credit and get started.

就是strawberry.mesmart。别再将就，开始打造你真正想要的职业生涯。词语和语言是文化的载体。我是Matt Abrahams，在斯坦福商学院教授战略沟通课程。

That's strawberry.mesmart. Stop settling. Start building the career you actually want. Words and language are conduits for culture. My name's Matt Abrahams, and I teach strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

欢迎收听《Think Fast, Talk Smart》播客。今天我很荣幸邀请到Adam Aleksic。Adam是语言学家和内容创作者，以'词源学达人'名义发布教育视频，拥有超过200万粉丝。他曾在斯坦福等顶尖大学讲授语言与社交媒体课程，最新著作是《社交媒体如何重塑语言未来》。

Welcome to Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast. Today, I'm delighted to speak with Adam Aleksic. Adam is a linguist and content creator posting educational videos under the name The Etymology Nerd, and he has over 2,000,000 followers. He's lectured on language and social media at Stanford and other top universities. His latest book is called How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language.

欢迎你Adam，期待这次对话。我的小儿子是你的粉丝，我们俩都对这次交流充满期待。谢谢你能来。我也很兴奋能参与，谢谢。

Well, welcome, Adam. I look forward to our conversation. My younger son is a follower of yours, and he and I are both really excited to hear this conversation. Thanks for being Excited to be here. Thanks.

我们开始吧？请说。作为律师和小学教师的儿子，语言和文字在我的生活中一直非常重要且有趣。我很好奇，你的兴趣和热情从何而来？为什么我们都应该关心用词和语法？

Should we get started? Go ahead. As the son of both a lawyer and an elementary school teacher, language and words have always been really important and interesting in my life. I'm curious, where did your interest and passion come from? And why should any of us care about the words we use in our grammar?

老实说，最初是冲着趣味知识入坑的。十年级时读了《词源奇趣》这本书，它精彩地展示了词语间千丝万缕的联系。后来我越深入研究，开始自己做调查，大学最终选择语言学专业后，逐渐意识到语言是人类认识世界并相互沟通的方式。

If I'm being honest, I got into it for the fun facts. I read this book in tenth grade, The Etymologicon. Great book connecting how different words are all related to each other in different ways. Fascinating. Then the more I looked into it, the more I started doing my own research and eventually studied linguistics in college, I began to realize that language is the way humans identify the world and relate that to each other.

这远不止是趣味知识——虽然这些本身也很有价值。语言是我们表达自我的工具，你可以将其视为文化的映射。

It's so much more than just fun facts, but those are still good, you know, in and of themselves. It's how we communicate who we are as people, and you can see this as a language as a proxy for culture.

确实如此，如果你有一个词来定义它，那么它就存在了，你就可以分享这个含义，对吧？

Absolutely, and if you have a word to identify it, then it exists and you can share that meaning, right?

正是这样，但一旦被定义，它也会稍微改变现实。标签的存在意味着你要么认同这个标签，要么反对这个标签。如果这个标签不存在，它就不会影响你的身份认同。这让我非常感兴趣，因为我写的书涉及算法以及算法如何创造新词，比如'cottagecore'这样的新标签就是算法推动产生的。

Exactly, but once it's identified, it also changes reality a little bit. The fact that a label is out there. You identify either with that label or against that label. If that label wasn't there, now it's not something affecting your identity. This is something that's very interesting to me because the book that I wrote gets into algorithms and how algorithms create new words, and you have new labels out there because algorithms push these like cottagecore or something.

现在'cottagecore'这个概念出现了，我要么属于这个风格，要么不属于，这微妙地影响了我的身份认同。

Now that cottagecore is out there, I'm either cottagecore or I'm not cottagecore, and that affects my identity subtly.

我完全不知道'cottagecore'是什么。你能给我解释一下吗？

I have no idea what cottagecore is. Will you share with me?

这是一种时尚美学，类似于田园牧歌式的生活方式，包括草原风光之类的元素，你穿着打扮会倾向于这种美学风格，但在社交媒体上它被包装成一种完整的生活方式。

It's a fashion aesthetic of like it's sort of a bucolic lifestyle of Prairies and whatever, and you're dressing toward that aesthetic, but it's packaged as an entire lifestyle on social media.

有意思。所以当Spotify识别或标记某种音乐类型时，这种类型突然就存在了，你要么属于它，要么不属于它。

Interesting. So when Spotify identifies a particular type of music or labels a type of music, all of a sudden it now exists and you're either it or not it.

完全正确。为了这本书，我采访了Spotify的首席数据炼金术师Glenn Macdonald，他们在Spotify上有超过8000种微流派。过去我们只有R&B、嘻哈、流行等大类，现在还有'escape room'、'preverb'这样的分类。这些都是他们创造出来的新标签，现在艺术家们会尝试让自己的音乐身份符合这些现存的标签。

Exactly. For this book, I actually interviewed Spotify's Chief Data Alchemist Glenn Macdonald, and they have over 8,000 microgenres on Spotify. You know in the past we'd have something like R and B, hip hop, pop. Now it's also escape room, preverb. These are like things they made up because they're just putting new labels on things, and now artists try to conform their musical identity for these labels that are out there.

'Hyperpop'这个词在2018年Spotify创建这个流派之前并不常见，现在人们争相创作hyperpop音乐，争论什么是或不是hyperpop，但如果没有这个标签，他们可能只是在这个领域更自由地创作音乐。标签一方面可能限制身份认同，另一方面也让人们能更精确地定义事物。正如你所说，词语拥有巨大的力量。

Hyperpop is the term that wasn't really on the scene until Spotify created a hyperpop genre in 2018, and now people are trying to make hyperpop art they're arguing over what is and what isn't hyperpop, but they wouldn't have been doing that otherwise. They would have maybe just been making music in this space and more fluid perhaps, but maybe the label constraints identity, at the same time maybe the label gives people a way to pinpoint exactly what this thing is. So what you were saying, words have tremendous power.

这太迷人了，我们使用的词语不仅创造和识别世界上存在的事物，还影响我们如何看待自己是否属于某个群体。让我问问你，你经常提到'算法用语'，什么是算法用语？它是如何影响我们的交流的？

That's fascinating, that the words we use not only create and identify what exists in the world, but how we see ourselves as being part of or not part of. So let me ask, you talk a lot about algo speak. What is algo speak and how is it impacting our communication?

传统上，算法用语是指用来规避在线算法审查的特定表达方式。典型的例子是'unalive'这个词。在TikTok上你不能说'kill'（虽然可以说，但视频可能会被限流），所以很多创作者选择使用'unalive'这样的替代词。现在甚至有中学生在作文里写'哈姆雷特考虑unalive自己'，仅仅因为他们在TikTok上看到这种表达。这也在改变我们的现实。这就是传统意义上的算法用语，也是我对此产生兴趣的原因——作为创作者和语言学家，我不得不开始研究自己的语言使用。

Traditionally algo speak has been the label for speech used to circumvent algorithmic censorship online. The classic example is the word unalive. You can't say kill on TikTok, or you can say it, but your video might be suppressed, so many creators choose instead to use words like unalive. And now we have kids in middle schools writing essays about Hamlet contemplating unaliving himself simply because they see it on TikTok, and so now this is also changing our reality as well. That's traditionally been what's referred to as algo speak, and that's what got me interested in this because I'm a creator and I'm a linguist, and I started studying my own language because you can't not if you're those things.

我开始意识到，哇，我的表达正被算法阻碍，不得不绕开它重新组织语言。但同时，这远不止是审查制度，就像'Alive'这个例子。它关乎模因、趋势、社群的创建、词汇的起源，以及这些词汇传播的速度。

And I started realizing, wow, my speech is being hampered and by the algorithm I have to reroute around it. At the same time, it's so much more than censorship, like on Alive. It's memes, it's trends, it's which groups are created, it's where words come from in the first place, and how quickly those words spread.

哇，所以算法正在取代新词汇产生的传统方式——亚文化群体对概念和想法的运用。既然存在这种新语言（或者说至少是语言中的新词汇），我们该如何最好地掌握它？我想到现代职场中四代人共事的场景：有人沉迷TikTok和Instagram的算法文化，而年长者甚至不知道这些平台。当我们使用的语言都不相同时，该如何有效沟通？

Wow, so the algorithms are replacing the traditional way that new words came into being, subcultures using concepts and ideas. Given that there's this new language, if you will, or at least new words in a language, how do we best become fluent? I'm thinking of the modern day workplace where you have four generations of folks, and some folks are religiously on TikTok and Instagram and part of that algorithm culture, and then you've got folks who are older who don't even know what those things are. How can we expect to communicate when we're not even speaking the same language in some cases?

没错。每个社交环境都有独特的语言期待。就像你描述的职场，仍然存在通用的企业语言规范，界定哪些词汇可被接受。比如'unalive'这个词——孩子在作文里写这个词可能不被接受，但在TikTok上说就完全没问题，因为那正是平台的语言期待。

Right. Each social setting comes with a unique set of linguistic expectations. In the workplace, like you described, there's still like a general corporate kind of language or an attitude about what words are acceptable and not acceptable. Same with unalive, right? It seems unacceptable for a kid to write that in an essay, but it's acceptable to say on TikTok because that actually is the expectation.

这就是网络社会方言（sociolect），人们通过特定说话方式来定义社群归属感。

That's the sociolect, the social kind of dialect of the internet, that people have this certain way of speaking that defines a community.

那么作为组织领导者或团队管理者，如果我希望每个人都感受到归属感，是否需要制定术语表？当同事使用我不理解的词汇时，是否意味着我被排斥了？你有什么建议能帮助我们实现同频沟通？

So if we are to be a leader in an organization, a manager of a group, and I want everybody to feel included in that group, do I have to have a glossary of terms that we agree to to use? If I've got a colleague that refers to something I don't understand, am I being left out? Am I being ostracized? What recommendations do you have or have you seen so that we can all communicate the same way?

这些语言期待大多是隐性的。算法会标记某些关键词，推动趋势词汇的传播，创作者使用后进一步强化其病毒性——这就是算法语言（algo speak）。我坚信'媒介即讯息'：每个媒介都独特地塑造着我们的沟通方式。算法作为视频分发的基础设施，要求我们既要规避审查词汇，又要选用易传播的词汇，还要适应这种社交期待。

Well I think a lot of these expectations are implicit and it's strange to make a list of words that are acceptable and not there are keywords that are being flagged by the algorithm, or some words the algorithm knows are trending and then the algorithm pushes them and then creators use these words, and then the word gets perpetuated further into virality and now it's more of a word. That to me is also algo speak. I'm a strong believer that the medium is the message. Every single medium uniquely affects how we communicate, and we adapt our speech to these media. The algorithm is one such medium, and we have a unique way of speaking for these, because algorithms are an infrastructure underlying how videos get distributed, you have to appeal to this algorithm, not only in which words you're using to avoid censorship, but also in which words go more viral, but also generally, if this is a social expectation that we should be speaking this way, you have to accommodate for that as well.

办公室场景的媒介完全不同。你不会在职场使用'unalive'这种词——因为那不符合场景期待。

In an office setting, the medium is different. You should not be using the word unalive in the office. And that's just not the expectation.

所以不同语境产生不同期待，随之带来特定规则。这很有趣——我们播客最常给的建议就是'了解受众并调整适应'。而你提出了新受众维度：算法和使用工具。若想被理解，至少需要懂得工具的语言逻辑。

So each context brings its own expectations, which brings along with it the certain rules that you have. I find it really interesting. One of the most ubiquitous bits of advice that comes from this podcast is you need to know your audience, and you need to adjust and adapt. And I'm hearing that you're adding a new audience that some of us need to consider, is the algorithm and the tools that we use. And that's really interesting because if I want to be understood, I need to at least speak the same language or understand and appreciate the language of the tool that I'm using.

语境确实关键。比如现在，我在调整表达方式与你对话，但同时意识到潜在听众的存在。这涉及心理语言学中的'受众设计'现象——我们会为想象中的受众调整沟通方式，广播主持人和电视主播都是典型案例。

The context is really important. For example, right now I know I'm talking to you and I'm accommodating my communication to talk to you. However, we're also being observed many other people, and I don't know who these people are. So I'm using a psycholinguistic phenomenon known as audience design, where I have an idea of a perceived imaginary audience and I am accommodating my communication for that as well. This is something we've seen with radio hosts and broadcast presenters.

你会发现他们使用特定口音。前几天我在NPR听到讨论'NPR口音'，电视新闻也有'突发新闻'的固定播报方式。网红们同样发展出了'网红口音'。

You'll notice that they talk in specific accents. Right? I was on NPR the other day, they were talking about the NPR accent and how they talk like that. And we all know, this just in, breaking news, they have a certain way of speaking on TV as well. Influencers as well have a sort of an influencer accent.

他们是在迎合他们感知中的受众。这同样与特定的社交环境、规范以及该媒介背后的价值观相关。然而，我们的沟通对象不仅限于眼前真实的人，也不仅是那些无形中观察我们的人，还包括算法本身。还存在一种无形的底层架构，会分析上传至这些平台的每一个字词，你也需要为此进行表演。

They're accommodating for their perceived audience. And again, this comes with the specific social setting and the norms and the underlying values of that medium. However, we're also communicating not only for the actual person in front of us, not only for the people invisibly perceiving us, but also for the algorithm itself. There's also this invisible infrastructure that analyzes every single word that's uploaded to these platforms, and you need to be performing for that as well.

稍后我想再讨论影响者和创作者，但此刻有两个问题浮现：AI和算法仅能基于它们消化和理解的数据发挥作用。随着语言演变，算法是否可能尚未理解某些词汇术语的含义，从而实际犯错？不仅可能，

I want to come back to influencers and creators in a moment, but two questions pop into mind: AI and the algorithms are only as good as the data that they have come to digest and understand. As language is changing, is it possible that the algorithms don't yet know what some of these words and terms mean, and they might actually make mistakes? Not only possible,

这正是现实。事实上，AI尽管复杂，其训练集和强化学习机制仍是现实的偏颇版本。它包含的语言理念或表征如同一张地图，但地图永远无法成为真实疆域本身。因此人类语言实际运用中的所有细微差别、各种微小形态及其当下演变方式，AI永远无法完全跟上。这就是为什么如果你让ChatGPT使用俚语，我认为它永远无法真正掌握潮流。

but that's exactly the reality. The fact is that AI, as sophisticated as it is, has a training set and has reinforcement learning that is a biased version of reality. It contains an idea or representation of language that is a map, but the map can never be the territory itself. So the way human language is actually used in all of its nuances, all of its little forms, and the way that it's currently changing, AI can never fully catch up to that. And that's why if you ask ChatGPT to use slang, I don't think it'll ever quite be hip to that.

人类语言总是领先一步，所以我们才会发明像'unalive'这样的新短语——现在这个词也被算法捕捉了。但创作者们又用'still unalive'这类变体，把字母a换成@符号或把i换成感叹号，始终比算法快一步。若说人类有什么特质让我确信，那就是我们在创造新表达方式上既机敏又执着。

Human language is always one step ahead, which is why we come up with new phrases like unalive, and now that's being centered as well, because the algorithm caught onto that. But now creators use phrases like still unalive, but spelled with an at sign instead of an a or an exclamation point instead of an I, one step ahead of the algorithm. If there's one thing I can count on humans, it's that we are ingenious and tenacious with coming up with new ways to express ourselves.

我想深入探讨你作为影响者、词源学爱好者和算法语言研究者的专业见解。如果核心在于获取关注、维持注意力以实现病毒传播，让更多人听到你的观点，你会给那些想精通并最大化利用算法语言的人什么建议？有什么具体技巧可以推荐吗？

I want to dig into your expertise as an influencer yourself, as the etymology nerd, but as somebody who's studied algo speak. If it is all about getting attention, sustaining attention, leading to virality so your ideas get heard by more and more people, what types of advice would you give to people who are trying to be really fluent and maximize what algo speak gives for them? Are there some specific tips and tricks that you would recommend?

首先要明白这些平台的需求。平台提供基础设施，但不幸的是它们试图攫取我们的注意力，将人格商品化以贩卖数据和广告。这就是它们的运作方式。它们设立的结构中，用户留存是关键指标之一——即人们观看视频的时长，还有互动指标如点赞、评论、分享等常规数据。作为影响者，你自然会被激励去优化这些指标。

Start with what these platforms want. The platforms give us the infrastructure, and unfortunately they are trying to grab our attention to commodify us as people so they can sell our data and so they can sell us ads. That's what they're doing. They make the structures in place, they have retention as one of them, that's how long people stay watching a video, they use engagement metrics and whether they recommend videos, that's likes, comments, shares, all that normal stuff. So as influencers, you are then incentivized to maximize for these things.

这完全源于媒介如何内置特定预期和优先级，你必须清醒认识这点。同时也要意识到那些无形的观看群体。我的说话方式与生活方式博主不同，因为受众不同。后者可能面向期待某种'山谷女孩'口音的年轻女性。我语速很快——现实中如此，但在线上我会加重某些词来留住观众，防止他们划走视频。

It's all downstream of how the medium is baking in certain expectations, certain priorities, and so you need to be very aware of that. And it's also, again, be aware of your invisible watching audience as well. I speak differently than the lifestyle influencer because I have a different audience. The lifestyle influencer is probably speaking to young women who expect this sort of valley girl derived accent. I speak very quickly I mean, I do in real life but online I'll stress more words to keep you watching my video to make sure you don't scroll away.

我也会用升调，但会呈现出与生活方式博主不同的效果，因为我在同时迎合想象中的受众和算法。

And I'll uptalk as well, but it'll be like a different thing than the Lifestyle Influencer because I'm also accommodating for both my imaginary audience and the algorithm.

非常有趣，你让我开始反思自己说话时的语言策略。我猜自己也在刻意为想象中的观众调整表达——虽然这对算法未必有利，可能不利于传播观点。除了口语表达，还有什么能增强病毒传播的策略？比如帖子命名（并非所有人都是影响者），但我会给邮件加标题，给会议贴标签。

Really interesting, and you're making me think about what I do linguistically when I speak. I guess I am purposely doing things for that imagined audience. It might not be good for the algorithm, which might not be good for me to get my word out there. Are there certain things people can do that enhance virality beyond just the spoken word? So for example, what we name our posts, which not everybody is an influencer or creator, but I put titles on emails, I label what my meeting is.

是否存在某些词汇？我是说文字沟通也同样重要。

Are there words? I mean words communication as well.

书面文字比其他事物更能吸引我们的注意力。我还想引入视觉符号学的概念。先退一步

Written words grab our attention more than other things. I want to bring in visual semiotics as well. Take a step

请先为我们解释一下符号学。

back, define semiotics for us.

哦，符号学就是研究我们所见的有意义的事物符号。比如现在摆在我们面前的麦克风——如果这段内容被上传到社交媒体，有研究表明，画面中出现麦克风的视频传播度更高，因为它暗示着权威。这个麦克风就是承载权威的符号学象征。所以现在甚至有真实创作者开始使用假麦克风，纯粹因为这样更容易走红。它本质上是个视觉信号，告诉观众这个人要讲重要内容。

Oh, it's symbols, things we look at that have meaning. So the fact that we have microphones right now in front of us, and if this is uploaded to social media, there are studies that have been done that show that videos where people have microphones in front of them go more viral than otherwise, because they connote authority. This is a semiotic symbol that holds authority within it. And so there's actually an influx right now of real creators using fake microphones because that simply goes more viral. And it literally is a visual indicator that this person has something important to say.

我们会下意识认为说话者更重要、内容更有价值，因此愿意继续观看。

And so we are subconsciously primed to perceive that person as more important and as having something worthy when they're talking, and so we watch further.

这现象太有意思了。虽然不是每个人都会成为网红创作者，但我们现在都会做虚拟演示——比如设置虚拟背景。你必须思考背景里有什么，因为正如你所说，那些元素也在传递符号学信息，暗示着某些内容。

I really find that fascinating. Not everybody again is going to be a creator influencer, but all of us do virtual presentations where we might put a background behind us. You have to think about what's in that background, because that sends a semiotic message as you're talking about it, it's implying things.

我觉得文化层面我们还在适应Zoom时代——现在居然能直接看到别人的卧室，这太疯狂了！原本极度私密的卧室空间现在也被视为专业环境。就像视觉元素会物理性影响信息接收，书面和口头交流也面临同样情况。我想谈谈

I think culturally we're still grappling with the move to Zoom and the fact that you can just see inside people's bedrooms now, that's crazy! So now your bedroom, this very private sanctum, is now perceived as professional environment as well. In the same way that we see visual stuff very physically affect how we perceive a message, the same is happening with communication, both written and verbal. I'd like to talk

关于'like'这个词的用法，它有多重含义。我很好奇你对其演变的理解。有人用它作填充词，有人替代'says/said'。请帮我解析'like'。

a little bit about the word like, because it is used in a variety of ways, and I'm curious to get your perception of its evolution. And people use like in some ways as a filler, in some ways to replace the word says or said. Help me understand like.

这甚至不是算法用语，要追溯到80年代山谷女孩用语和早期网络语言。不过就像我刚才，它确实常作填充词。你说它能替代'said'，其实不完全准确——'said'强调逐字复述的证据性，而'like'更多是体现说话者的情感状态，不一定是原话。

Yeah, this isn't even algo speak. It goes back to 1980s valley girl speech and early internet speak, but also like you I just used it as a filler word right there. When you said you can use it as a synonym for said, that's not quite true, it has its own kind of feeling. Said is more connoting evidentiality, that you literally are repeating something verbatim. Like is embodying an affect of somebody who communicated something, but not necessarily saying 100% this is what they said.

比如我说'然后她like那个派对低调但超棒'，并不代表她真这么说了。这些用法都源自80-90年代加州年轻女性的说话方式。语言总是沿着'流行'、'酷'甚至'有趣'的渠道传播——当时芭蕾舞女孩很红，所以带动了这些用语。

So if I said, Then she was like that party was low key great, I'm not necessarily stating that she literally said that. But all these uses kind of evolved out of how young women talked in California in the 80s and 90s, and language often follows the conduits of what is perceived as popular, what is perceived as cool, what is perceived as funny even, and the ballet girls were popular and they spread language because of that.

没错。我80年代在加州长大，对山谷女孩用语记忆犹新。有趣的是这么多年后哪些留存了下来。最近我在研究如何策略性运用沟通中的模糊性，比如礼貌性用语、调情、谈判场景——这些场合中间接表达反而更有效。

Yeah. I grew up in California in the eighties, and I remember Valley Girls speak very much, and it's interesting to see what has lasted from that all these years later. You know, for the past little while I've been studying how we can use ambiguity in our communication strategically, hedging language, if you will. Think of things like politeness, flirtation, negotiation. All of these are situations where indirect speech, indirect language can actually be very helpful to you.

我们不想惹麻烦，不想冒险损害声誉或犯错，所以使用这种模棱两可的缓冲语言。你对模糊性有何看法？在这个算法主导的世界里，它又是如何体现的？

We don't want to get in trouble, we don't want to risk our reputation or make a mistake, so we use this ambiguous hedging language. What are your thoughts on ambiguity, and how does that play out in this world of algorithms?

我高中毕业前完成的第一个语言学研究项目是在法院实习时，分析律师如何与法官交谈。他们常会说'法官大人，我谨呈上这份简报'。实际上递交简报时根本不需要用'谨'字，完全可以说'法官大人，我正在呈交这份简报'。

My first ever linguistics research project that I did as a senior in high school was I was an intern at a court and I was analyzing how lawyers talk to the judges. And they'll often say things like Your Honor, I would submit this brief. As they're submitting the brief, you don't need to say would, right? Theoretically, because you're literally submitting the brief. You could say Your Honor, I'm submitting this brief.

但他们用'谨'字作为缓冲语，以示对法官的尊重与礼貌。这就是人们如何使用情态助动词的实例——比如'我可以'、'我应该做这个'、'我不该做那个'，都是通过修饰语言来显得更委婉。甚至'like'这个词的某种用法也是起缓冲作用。

But they say would as a hedge. They say it because it shows deference, it shows politeness to the judge. And this is how you'll see a lot of people use what is an example of a modal auxiliary verb, and you can say I could, I should do this, I shan't do that. All of that is an example of modifying your speech to make it seem more plain. And like is actually one use of the word like is to hedge.

这表明你没有过分坚持己见。在社交媒体上过度缓冲可能不利，因为我们需要展现权威性——这就是为什么那些假麦克风策略会奏效（这些是真麦克风吧？我猜）。缓冲语的效果取决于语境：对法官说话时，不那么咄咄逼人或许是明智的。

It's showing that you're not asserting yourself too much. On social media, I think it's probably bad to hedge that much, because we want to convey authority, that's why the fake microphones actually work. And real microphones, these are real I'm assuming. Hedging does work depending on different contexts. If you're trying to talk to a judge, maybe it is good to be less abrasive.

明白了。最让我困扰的缓冲语是'我觉得'和'有点'，它们会削弱你的地位和权威，但在某些情境下确实有用。比如我是老板而你是员工，若我想真诚征求你的意见，说'我有点觉得该这么做，你怎么看？'——这种降低姿态的模糊表达，比直接说'我们该这么做，你觉得呢？'更能鼓励对方开口。

I see. The hedges that bother me the most are I think and kind of, because they diminish your status and power, but at some points, in some ways, they can serve a useful function. If I'm the big boss and you're my employee and I genuinely want your input, if I were to say I kind of think we should do this, what do you think? That lowers my status and the certitude of my assertion so that you're more likely to say something versus we should do this, what do you think? That's a very different sounding phrase.

这现象很有意思。你在工作中见过类似情况吗？

So I find that really interesting. Do you see that play out in your world?

当然。谈到表演性时，你要表现的要素之一就是对话中始终存在的权力动态。比如我们坐在台上面对观众时，观众显然处于弱势地位；或者与上司交谈时——日语就直接将这种等级关系编码进语言里，

Yeah, when we're talking about performativity, one thing you're performing for is there's always an imbued power dynamic in any conversation you're having. So if we were like seated on stage in front of an audience, the audience is definitely less powerful or something. Or if you're talking to your boss, that's a perfect example. You have less power than your boss, and you need to show deference. And there's languages like Japanese that literally encode this.

通过添加不同助词来体现人际关系。英语也通过这类缓冲词实现类似功能。

They have many layers of like different particles you attach to show your relationship to this other person. In English we do the same thing, but we do that through these sort of hedging particles.

真有趣，我总能从你这里学到东西。纵观你的著作、社交媒体和研究，能否提炼两三个关键行动建议，帮助听众提升沟通技巧和语言运用？

Interesting, I love learning from you and I love the ideas of language. I'd like you to reflect across all of your work, the book you've written, all of the social posts you do, your own research that you've done, what are two or three key actionable takeaways that our listeners can have from that body of work that will help us in our communication and help us in the language that we use?

首要建议：每种媒介都会独特地影响沟通方式，要想有效沟通就必须清楚媒介的特性。算法是语言的新转折点——作为媒介，它们比以往任何媒介都更重视注意力经济，这加速了语言演变。你必须紧跟趋势，因为算法正在推动这些变化。所以，请时刻保持媒介意识。

Takeaway number one: each medium is going to uniquely affect how we communicate, and you need to be exactly aware of what that medium is doing if you want to communicate effectively. Algorithms are a new inflection point for language. I think, as a medium, they value attention more than any previous medium we may have had. It's causing language to occur faster, and you need to be tapped into these trends because that's another thing these algorithms are pushing. So, be aware of the medium.

第二点是算法正在改变我们的说话方式。即便你不上网，也需要了解这些新俚语的来源，因为它们正如我之前所说，也是文化的传导渠道。就像Valley Girl英语催生了'like'的流行用法，这些渠道塑造了我们眼中酷炫或高级的表达方式，我们会从中借鉴。意识到这些有助于更有效地沟通，也能让我们更留意自己的措辞及其潜在含义。

The second one is that algorithms are changing the way we speak. It's a reality that even if you're not online, you need to be aware of these new slang words, where they're coming from, because these are also conduits of culture, like I said earlier. We know, like, in the same way that light came from Valley Girl English, there's like conduits of popularity, what we perceive as cool or prestigious, and we borrow from that. It's good to be aware of these things so we can communicate more effectively, and so that we can be more aware of our own word choice and perhaps the implications of what words we're using.

我想在这个观点后加上感叹号——每个沟通渠道都需要我们审慎思考所使用的语言。很多人只是复制同一条信息到不同渠道，这既错失了优化机会，也可能适得其反，因为我们本质上没有采用应有的沟通方式。算法就是一个需要重点考虑的大渠道。作为语法捍卫者，我认为语法很重要，我会坚持使用牛津逗号。你对语法怎么看？语法在当下如何体现？

I want to put an exclamation point after this notion of every channel through which you communicate, we have to be mindful and think through the language that we use to communicate for that channel. A lot of us just create one message and then put it out in lots of different channels, and we might be missing an opportunity to optimize, and we might be doing ourselves a disservice because in essence we're not communicating in the way that we should, and the algorithm is one big channel we need to be considering. So I'm a grammarian, I think grammar is important, I will defend the Oxford comma. I'm curious what you think about grammar. How does grammar play out?

我知道社交媒体上人们不用语法，事实上当我给年轻人发信息加上标点时，反而会传递出非本意的含义。你对语法有什么看法？

I know in social media people don't use grammar, and in fact, when I text younger people and I put punctuation in, it actually conveys meaning that I'm not intending it to convey. What are your thoughts about grammar?

语法是一套关于语言使用规范的预期，这取决于语境——这里我可能要反驳你了。我承认语法的存在，写书时应该遵循标准英语语法规范（那个语境下我也爱用牛津逗号）。但给朋友或室友发信息时无所谓，实际上如果加句号反而显得奇怪。

Grammar is a set of rules or expectations about how language should be used. This differs on context, and this is where I might push back on you. I agree grammar exists, and I agree that when I'm writing my book I should use the standard grammatical conventions of English I am an Oxford comma enjoyer in that context. If I'm texting my friend or my roommate or something like that, it doesn't matter. In fact, it would be weird if I used a period when I texted my friend.

因为短信有个特点——无意冒犯，但婴儿潮世代比年轻人更爱用句号。发送动作本身已经表示句子结束，刻意添加的句号反而传递额外信息。年轻人会琢磨：这人为什么加句号？我们会认为这是被动攻击，所以有了'被动攻击性句号'的说法。

Because here's the thing about texts and how boomers tend to no offense, hey, they tend to use more periods in their texts than younger people The act of sending a text itself is already a signal that the sentence is completed. So going out of your way to include an extra period is actually saying something extra. You have your sentence, and then you have this period at the end of it that you didn't need to send because the message as a whole already communicated that this message ended. So now we as younger people are asking ourselves why did this person add a period? And we think that's passive aggressive, and so there's this idea of a passive aggressive period.

你说服我不要加句号了。虽非婴儿潮世代，但我很认同这点——语法结构因渠道而异确实很重要。

You have convinced me not to put a period. While not a boomer, I do appreciate that. I appreciate that the grammar syntax is important and it varies by channel.

这正是我说'媒介即信息'的意思。既要掌握标准语法（毕竟很多专业场合需要），也要了解非正式语法规则。同时掌握所有这些语法体系，才能在不同媒介中实现更好沟通。

If anything, that's what I mean when I say that every medium really affects the message. It's good to be aware of standard grammar for sure because there's a lot of context in which that is the way you professionally communicate with other people. But it's also good to be aware of the informal grammars. And being aware of all these grammars at once allows us to communicate better across different media.

没错，但这要求我们主动花时间去思考和学习。嗨，我是Matt，想推荐我常听的播客《隐藏的大脑》，这个节目专门探讨行为背后的原因。

Yeah, but it puts the onus on us to actually take the time to think about that and learn that, absolutely. Hi, Matt here. I want to tell you about a podcast that I always listen to. It's called Hidden Brain. Hidden Brain is a show that's all about why we do what we do.

如果你曾困惑'如何突破困境'或'为什么越追求快乐反而越不快乐'，一定要听听《隐藏的大脑》。每期节目中，主持人Shankar Vandatin都会带你探索研究成果，帮助你更理解自己和他人。在所有播客平台搜索收听吧。

If you've ever asked questions like, how can I get unstuck? Or why am I less happy the harder I try to be happy? You should definitely check out Hidden Brain. In every episode, my friend and host Shankar Vandatin explores research based ideas that will help you to better understand yourself and the people around you. Listen and discover your hidden brain wherever you get your podcasts.

Adam，结束前我要问三个问题——一个为你定制，两个常规问题。准备好了吗？开始吧。作为杰出的年轻语言学家，请点评本播客名称的语法错误：Think fast, talk smart.

So Adam, before we end, I like to ask three questions of everyone. One I create just for you and the other two I've been asking across all the episodes. Are you ready for Let's do it. So I would like, as a very bright young linguist, for you to give a commentary on the name of this podcast, because it is grammatically incorrect. Think fast, talk smart.

从语法上讲不应该这样措辞。这是好事还是坏事？你怎么看？

It should not be grammatically worded that way. Is this a good thing? Is this a bad thing? What do you think?

有趣的是，语法在这里其实是主观的。我们越来越非正式地省略-ly后缀，副词形容词化或反之，这种混用很常见。如果你想传达一种忙碌的氛围或'我们赶紧行动吧'的感觉，这在语法上并没有错。是的。

It's funny because, again, grammar is subjective here. We've had an increasing informal dropping of -ly suffixes, the turning of adverbs into adjectives and vice versa. We've had this mixture. And it's not grammatically incorrect if you're trying to connote this hustle vibe or like, let's get going. Yeah.

我认为这个播客名称符合你想营造的感觉。如果用更聪明的方式思考，

I think the name of the podcast works for the feel you're trying to create. If you think smarter,

比如叫Smartly之类的，对。

you know Smartly or whatever, yeah.

那就没有同样的氛围了，不同的说话方式会带来不同的感觉。所以我觉得完全没问题，就你想达成的效果而言，这在语法上是正确的。

It doesn't have the same vibe, and different ways of speaking have different vibes. So I think you're totally fine. And it's grammatically correct for what you're trying to do.

太棒了。我那位对我们播客命名方式不满的高中英语老师，我会把这段剪辑发给他，让他明白其中缘由。但话说回来，我认为你的回答表明，我们所使用的语言、词汇传递的远不止字面意义。正如你所说，它们还传递了一种感受、一种感知、一种氛围。第二个问题。

Excellent. The high school English teacher that I had who is upset about the way we named the podcast, I'm gonna send this clip to him so he can understand it. But again, I think your answer shows that the language we use, the words we use, convey more than just meaning. They convey a feeling, a sense, a vibe, as you said. Question number two.

你欣赏哪位沟通者？为什么？

Who is a communicator that you admire and why?

我在书中采访了许多不同的教育内容创作者，我认为这些人处于独特的位置——你既有传播知识、让人们更了解某个主题的愿望，同时又深受媒介形式的限制。教育者始终需要吸引受众注意力，就像老师仍需抓住学生的注意力才能掌控课堂，对吧？否则学生就会分心。而教育内容创作者还面临着创造寓教于乐内容的特殊需求。我尤其钦佩那些早期开拓这一领域的先驱者，比如格林兄弟、Vsauce频道。

I interview a lot of different educational creators in the book, and I think these people are in a unique position because you have this desire to communicate something and let people know more about this topic, but at the same time we're heavily constrained by this medium. You've always needed attention to educate people, a teacher still needs to get her students' attention because that's how you hold the floor, right? Otherwise, the students will be distracted. However, educational content creators are faced with that unique sort of need to create edutainment. And I'm very impressed with especially the early people who had to figure out this space, the Green Brothers, Vsauce.

我认为他们在这方面做出了非凡的成就。

I think they've done incredible work in that regard.

这种获取并维持注意力的能力——我将参与度定义为持续的注意力——是至关重要的。

This ability to get attention and sustain attention, I define engagement as sustained attention is critical.

对我来说，‘参与度’是个肮脏词汇，因为它带有算法社交媒体的意味，但你说得完全正确。

To me engagement is a dirty word just because it's like algorithmic social media kind of a word, but you're absolutely right.

早在这些算法出现之前，我就在教授‘参与’这个概念，我很乐意使用这个同义词，但关键不仅在于吸引注意力，还要保持注意力，无论我们如何命名这个过程都很重要。最后一个问题：成功沟通的前三个要素是什么？

Long before these algorithms existed, I've been teaching this notion of engagement, and I'm happy to use this synonym, but there's a need to not only get attention, to keep that attention, and whatever we call that is important. Final question for you: what are the first three ingredients that go into a successful communication recipe?

我有点被刚才说的内容带偏了。第一要素是保持觉知——了解每个社交场合的规则，清楚所用词汇的背景。对我而言，觉知永远是第一步。第二步是明确你身处的具体场景。

I'm a little biased by everything I've just said. The first ingredient is just being aware knowing what the rules are for each social setting. Knowing what background is of the words you're using. Being aware is just step one, always for me. Step two is know the exact setting that you're in.

当你了解词汇在不同场景的用法，又清楚自己所在的场景后，就能基于此进行有意识的沟通。第三步：持续观察，提升觉知。这是个循环过程。我们也在通过实践不断强化自身的觉知。

Now you know how these words are used across settings, now you know what setting you're in, and then communicate conscientiously based on that. Step three: Continue observing, become more aware. It's just a cycle. We're performing our own awareness into existence as well.

所以本质上就是保持开放和觉察，看清当下状况，然后对语言使用做出清醒选择。

So really it boils down to being open and aware to seeing what's going on, and then make conscious choices to the language you use.

这样你就能条件反射般应对变化。我认为需要持续重新评估我们在世界中的状态，因为语言的特质就是永远在变化。媒介也总在更迭。除非我们变得自满——而人太容易自满了。

Then you can sort of reflexively respond to what's going on. Continuously I think re evaluating our state in the world, because here's the thing about language: it's always changing. The mediums are also always changing. And unless we can become complacent. It's so easy to become complacent.

你会觉得‘啊我搞懂语言规律了，这套方法很棒！’然后新媒介出现了。现在有了算法，新词汇不断涌现。当你失去觉知，立刻就落伍了。

You're like oh I figured out how language works, this works great! And then we have a new medium. We have algorithms now. We have new words emerging. And you're no longer aware, and now you're out of date.

比如还在短信里用句号。

You're using periods in your text messages.

我说过会改掉这个习惯的。这种觉知理念让人保持敏捷，能够调整适应，我很欣赏这点。亚当，这次对话太精彩了。我就知道会是一次有趣的探索。你让我们明白考虑受众的重要性。

I told you I'm gonna stop doing that. This idea of awareness allows you to be agile and allows you to adjust and adapt, and I appreciate that. Adam, this has been fantastic. I knew it was gonna be a really interesting journey. You helped us understand that it is important to think about our audience.

算法也是受众之一。语言作为文化与意义的载体这个概念非常关键。感谢你的时间，祝你的新书《算法语言》顺利。谢谢。这次

The algorithm is one of those audiences. This notion that language is a conduit for culture and meaning is very critical. I appreciate your time, and best of luck on your book, Algo Speak. Thank you. It was

和你聊天真开心。

so fun talking to you.

感谢收听《快速思考，智慧表达》播客的又一期节目。想了解更多关于语言和词汇的内容，请收听第91期与瓦莱丽·弗里德兰的对话。本期节目由凯瑟琳·里德、布莱恩·坎波斯和我——马特·亚伯拉罕斯共同制作，音乐来自Floyd Wonder，特别鸣谢Podium Podcast Company。请在YouTube及您获取播客的平台关注我们。

Thank you for listening to another episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast. To learn more about language and words, tune in to episode 91 with Valerie Friedland. This episode was produced by Katherine Reed, Brian Campos, and me, Matt Abrahams. Our music is from Floyd Wonder, with thanks to Podium Podcast Company. Please find us on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

记得订阅并为我们评分。同时，在LinkedIn和Instagram上关注我们，并访问fastersmarter.i0查看深度解析视频、英语学习内容及我们的新闻通讯。欢迎订阅我们的高级会员服务，获取加长版深度思考节目、向马特提问等专属内容，详情请访问fastersmarter.i0/premium。嗨，我是马特。

Be sure to subscribe and rate us. Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and check out fastersmarter.i0 for deep dive videos, English language learning content, and our newsletters. Please consider our premium offering for extended deep think episodes, ask Matt anythings, and much more at fastersmarter.i0/premium. Hi. Matt here.

随着九月临近，许多人即将重返校园和工作岗位。为帮助您重拾状态并提升沟通技巧，请关注我们八月每日发布的‘回归基础’系列视频。我们每周设定一个沟通主题，并将在太平洋时间早上7点通过YouTube、Instagram和TikTok平台每日分享简短实用的视频。这些实用干货视频不容错过，记得关注我们获取每日《快速思考，智慧表达》的精彩内容。完整日程表请查看fastersmarter.iobasics。

As September approaches, many of us are heading back to school and work. To help get you back in the groove and hone your communication skills, check out daily back to basic videos we'll be publishing each day in August. We have identified a weekly communication topic and we'll share a short helpful video each day at 7AM Pacific on our YouTube, Instagram and TikTok channels. Please check out these practical, helpful videos and be sure to follow us to get your daily dose of Think Fast, Talk Smart. You can see a complete calendar at fastersmarter.iobasics.