Buzzwords in the Media:

Analyzing Representations of Language Change Ideologies

Abstract

This study investigates how internet buzzwords in media discourse represent language change ideologies and public attitudes toward popular culture. It adopts a mixed-methods design that combines quantitative word-formation analysis with qualitative media-context analysis. The lexical dataset consists of 62 English buzzword entries published in Macmillan Dictionary' . (n.d.) BuzzWord database between 2016 and 2020. These entries were classified according to their dominant word-formation processes, including compounding, collocation, blending, affixation, conversion, acronym/initialism, borrowing, clause formation, and onomatopoeia. To strengthen methodological transparency, a second coder independently classified the full dataset, and inter-coder reliability was calculated before analytical reconciliation. The findings show that compounding and collocation are the most frequent patterns, while blending becomes especially visible in later entries. Contextual analysis of Brexit, breadcrumbing, green swan, and reacji further shows how buzzwords index political stance, mediated intimacy, environmental responsibility, and platform-shaped communication. The study argues that buzzwords are not merely temporary lexical fashions; they are mediatized linguistic resources through which speakers and media institutions name social change, evaluate cultural practices, and negotiate language ideologies.