Transit, Transmission, Transgression

Amelia (Amy) Kraehe
Race remix…

Barbara Rivero
This podcast draws together themes of generational migration through language, music and general code switching.

Ben Tisdale
We’ve all drawn from our personal experiences growing up and interacting with our families, as well as observing the differences of their experiences versus ours through the migration from generation to generation.

Sally Wenger
Our overall theme is transit transmission and transgression through migration and displacement in language, sound and music.

Ben Tisdale
In this section, we’re diving into the fascinating evolution of language through the lens of code switching. How we shift between styles of communication and how the digital world has transformed it. Let’s talk about what happens when language travels across generations, cultures and platforms. Code switching is the practice of alternating between two or more languages a variety of language in conversation.
It’s how people navigate different social, cultural or linguistic settings. Think of a bilingual speaker flipping between English and Spanish. Or how you might talk to your boss versus your best friend. But here’s where things get interesting. The Internet has brought us into a new era of digital code switching, for example, on Twitter. You’re limited to short, punchy phrases, maybe even hashtags.

Compare that to Tik Tok, where slang thrives or Reddit or niche communities build entire vocabularies. Each platform has its own norms, creating a kind of linguistic ecosystem. These niche communities build language extremely fast. Take the word Riz heard it before. It’s short for charisma and as popularized by Twitch streamer Kaizen in 2022, it’s become a shorthand for charm or flirtation.

In 2023, Oxford University Press named Riz its word of the year, beating out situations Hip and Swifty. Words start in specific subcultures, but quickly spread, crossing generations and even global boundaries. The word came from Baltimore Street Slang in 2021 and is now worldwide. My own grandparents were even asking me about the word after hearing from one of my younger cousins.

When my cousins texted me, they might say something was fried when my grandparents talked to me. They will sometimes use terms I’ve never heard of idioms that seem lost the time we’re all navigating the same world. But our language marks our generational identities and the culture we are a part of. The origins of these words are usually never thought about.

I recently found out about many of the words that I use were originally slang Dude, which is now becoming more gender neutral, referred to a dandy man in the 19th century. Cool as a term that describes something being stylish, good or impressive, came from jazz culture in the 1940s and fifties. Think of it as migration, where words travel picking up new meanings and shedding old ones.
Their meanings changed, adapted like all languages, yet they still say something about the culture they came from. Online spaces don’t just reflect generational divides. They create them. Subcultures on platforms like Tik Tok, Reddit and Fortran act as linguistic petri dishes. Words like Karens, Simp and based started in tight knit online communities, but eventually burst into mainstream culture, often transforming along the way.
These words carry meaning beyond their definitions. They carry baggage, and sometimes that baggage can change how we see the world. Take the word Incel Sure for involuntary celibate. On the surface, it might seem like a neutral way to describe a particular social experience, but in online communities where it originated, it became tied to dangerous ideologies and toxic attitudes.

When the word spread to mainstream discourse, so did these associations reshaping conversations about gender and relationships. Or consider the term Chad initially used in certain corners of the Internet to mock a confident, attractive man. It also reinforces ideas about social hierarchies and disability. Words like Chad or even Virgin don’t just describe. They construct. They influence how people think about themselves and others, and they reflect the values and biases of the communities that created them.
These aren’t just words. They’re cultural artifacts. As they spread, they carry the ideologies of their origins into new spaces, influencing how mainstream culture talks about identity, relationships and power. And this way, online subcultures don’t just invent new slang. They disrupt challenge and reshape societal norms. It’s a reminder that language isn’t just about communication, it’s about influence. Online spaces may accelerate these changes.

But they’re a part of a larger story of how people use language to signal who they are, what they value, and where they fit or don’t fit. Within a system. Whether it’s a Tik Tok trend or your grandparents slang from decades ago, the words we choose reflect our connections to time, culture and identity. And as language keeps evolving, it asks us to evolve with it, adapting to new norms, challenging old ones, and sometimes breaking the rules altogether.

So, what does this mean for the future of language code switching? Whether its bilingual families blending Spanish and English, or a teenager toggling between formal essays and Tik-Tok comments shows how adaptive and resilient we are. And yet, beneath all this language remains a bridge connecting generations, cultures, and even strangers across the globe. Next time you learn a new phrase or hear an interesting word.

Think about what you say and where those words came from. And maybe teach your grandparents what rhythm means.

Sally Wenger
I’m Sally Winger, and in this part of the podcast, I’m going to be talking to my mom about bluegrass, specifically her relationship with the music and her father’s relationship with the music, and how those ideas have migrated across generations and changed. We also get a little bit into the history of bluegrass and her personal history of music taste and kind of how that evolved throughout her life.

Today, I want to say hi. Hi. You want to introduce yourself?

Jenny Woosley-Walker
Hi. My name is Jenny Woosley. Walker.

Sally Wenger
That’s my mom. So, when I think of bluegrass, I think of granddad. But I also think of you and your distaste for it. Did he like it as much as he does now when you were growing up?

Jenny Woosley-Walker
always.

Sally Wenger
Yeah.

Jenny Woosley-Walker
And as you know, I grew up in the southern Appalachians, in western North Carolina. There were bluegrass festivals and there still are. And we traveled to bluegrass festivals, but there were also very regular bluegrass performances in Callaway. And when I was a child. I liked that music. I didn’t mind it at all. When I was a child, though, in the late sixties and early seventies, bluegrass and country music were much closer together.

Although bluegrass has always been distinct from country to country, music is more along the lines of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton. Porter Wagoner in those days. Bluegrass was always, you know, a bunch of guys, one of whom played a stand-up bass and spoon. There was always a banjo. Sometimes they were spoons. Always banjo. But the bluegrass music also, in my mind, is linked pretty closely to clogging and the other kinds of traditional dance.
Sally Wenger
Okay. And what where does bluegrass come from?

Jenny Woosley-Walker
I mean, I’m not a musicologist, but probably it has its roots in the settlers from the British Islands, anywhere from Scotland, primarily Scotland, Wales and England, who came over to the United States, you know, in the 1617 hundreds and settled in the in the Appalachian Mountains all the way from West Virginia down through North Carolina, but then also into Tennessee and Kentucky to northern Georgia.

Sally Wenger
Is there more bluegrass in Kentucky where granddad’s from or is there more in college where you grew up?

Jenny Woosley-Walker
I don’t know. It was it was everywhere. There was there were things like the Old Timey Fiddlers contest, which was in Kentucky. Right. And there are modern, at least modestly successful bluegrass bands that have been playing for a long time. But over time, bluegrass and country got further apart. Because bluegrass is. Although there might be bands that would be, considered to be innovative, it is inherently a to my way of thinking.

It is an inherently music that’s rooted in the past.

Sally Wenger
Yeah, it’s very folky and it’s very, it’s just sounds old.

Jenny Woosley-Walker
It’s very folky. I’ve never seen a bluegrass band that didn’t play classics.

Sally Wenger
Okay. They just are. They’re all kind of cover bands.

Jenny Woosley-Walker
In a sense. Yeah, maybe write their own music too, right? But they all play, you know, old, old songs.

Sally Wenger
Do you think a lot of the people who are from the Appalachians who make country music have roots in bluegrass? Yes, it’s just so everywhere. Yes. Yeah. Well, you lived in the South until we moved to California. I mean, you lived in Texas, which is different, but that’s still. But that’s not bluegrass country. But that’s still country.

Jenny Woosley-Walker
That’s country. Country.

Sally Wenger
Yeah. Did you ever come back to country music after you moved out south? Did it have a different sort of connotation to you now that you live far away from your parents?

Jenny Woosley-Walker
Maybe. I mean, I have more tolerance for bluegrass now than I did in my, you know, teen and young adult years.

Sally Wenger
Yeah, well, I moved to California when I was nine, but I never like I remember living in Georgia being like everybody hated country music. That was like the thing. Not everybody in Georgia, but like in my generation, people are like, I’ll listen to anything but country because it was all like, especially in the 20 tens, like Luke Bryan, like.

Jenny Woosley-Walker
Georgia, Florida line. It was big stadium pop country. But then but people from places like the Michigan suburbs. Yeah, Detroit, the.

Sally Wenger
Pennsylvania, whatever. But then now I think country is kind of having a resurgence like older folk year country. I really like that music, which is interesting because I didn’t grow up listening to any country music, but it still reminds me of not really Georgia, but more, I think, country. I think of your parents, I think of being in Appalachia.

Jenny Woosley-Walker
And my father’s path to country was through rockabilly. I mean, as a young man, he liked the rock and roll music. This time he was born in 1934. So, we’re talking about 1950. I mean, he listened to the Everly Brothers wake up little Susie. He listened to Patsy Cline, who’s big at least one of her biggest hits was written by William Nelson.

He saw Willie Nelson play very early on when Willie Nelson had flattop. Right. And it was spectacular. But his so he kind of started in that rockabilly world. And then as country music began to go in one direction, I would argue in rock and roll and the other, you know, then Elvis came onto the scene and my father sort of decided to go the country around to write.

All these musics are beginning to separate. And then there’s the Delta Blues, which had far less influence on anything from the Appalachians, raw influence that eventually became. Yeah.

Sally Wenger
The Stones. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. Sure. All right, cool. Awesome.
Barbara Rivero
Migration and displacement significantly impacts the linguistic landscape of communities. These processes shape language, use, culture, identity and socio interrogation. We will explore the relationship between migration, displacement and language as people move across countries, cultures and continents. Their language travels with them, shaping identities, preserving traditions, and navigating the complexities of belonging in the Mexican community. Many migrate to the United States in hope of opportunities, jobs and a better future. However, many struggle due to the new shift in language, culture and discrimination.

¿Quién eres y de dónde eres?

Maria Kimball
Soy Maria Kimball y soy de Nogales, Mexico.

Barbara Rivero
¿Y cómo aprendió dice de inglés?

Maria Kimball
Practico en donde trabajo.

Barbara Rivero
¿Cómo, Cómo aprendiste en el trabajo? ¿Sí, con otra gente?

Maria Kimball
Practico con gente, con compañeros de mi trabajo.

Barbara Rivero
¿A qué problemas se enfrentó al trasladarse a Estados Unidos?

Maria Kimball
Lo principal es el idioma y lo segundo… la cultura es muy diferente.

Barbara Rivero
¿Por qué sabemos español mis hermanos y yo?

Maria Kimball
Nunca quise quitar el idioma. Te enseñaban español porque de todas formas ibas a aprender inglés en la escuela.

Barbara Rivero
¿Tuviste algún problema cuando teníamos deberes en inglés?

Maria Kimball
Sí, sobre todo con mi primer hijo. Tuve que traducir del inglés al español y del español al inglés para poder ayudarle con los deberes.

Barbara Rivero
¿Por qué cree que es importante conocer las dos lenguas?

Maria Kimball
Porque es más fácil enfrentarse a uno mismo y poder comunicarse mejor.

Barbara Rivero
Y ahora que sabe inglés, ¿le ha hecho más fácil?

Maria Kimball
Es mucho más fácil comunicarse, poder desenvolverse un poco más con las dos idiomas.

Barbara Rivero
In the past many schools in the U.S. would only teach in English which made it difficult for first language Spanish speakers, also known as ELL’s. As of 2023, Arizona is the only state with English only education legislation still in effect. In the article, English only education is on decline. But Arizona holds out posted by the American Immigration Council staff states that since the institution of Prop 203 in 2000 EELs in Arizona have suffered their graduation rates are 20% below the national average, while the standardized test scores fall far below those of the state’s general population.

Because of this struggle and discrimination, many Latinos stop teaching their kids Spanish. They believe that their children shouldn’t have to struggle like they did but does more harm than good. Losing the Spanish language can block opportunities and connections with family members and old friends who can’t communicate with their nanas because they don’t know Spanish or aren’t fluent in it.

In the Latino community, these people are categorized as No-Sabo Kids in Spanish. I don’t know. It’s translated to no say, but many Latinos mispronounce this as noticeable.

Linda Rivero
Hi, my name is Linda Ribeiro. I’m a second-generation Latina; My mom’s Mexican and my dad’s Cuban.

Barbara Rivero
How did you learn Spanish?

Linda Rivero
I learned Spanish by my mom. Guess the only language I really knew until I hit preschool is when I had like, challenge with, like, learning English. And now I know more English and Spanish.

Barbara Rivero
Do you use Spanglish? In what ways do you use it in conversations?

Linda Rivero
I do. Sometimes. I don’t know words in Spanish, so I say it in English while speaking Spanish, or sometimes I do the opposite.

Barbara Rivero
What are your thoughts on being called a El Sabo kid?

Linda Rivero
It hurts sometimes. It hurts my feelings, but sometimes. It’s like, okay. Yeah, I know I could be a noticeable kid because sometimes I don’t know words in Spanish, mostly when I can’t pronounce my R’s. So, it’s really hard for me to say some words in Spanish. So, I get called noticeable kid frequently but used to bother me. But now I just make it as a joke.

Barbara Rivero
Today, many Mexicans and Latinos could switch between Spanish and English in their conversations. This is also known as Spanglish. I often find myself doing this in conversations with friends and family.

I feel like it makes it easier for me to get my point across. This code switch is part of my bilingual identity. If my mother hadn’t taught me Spanish, this is an identity I would have lost. Culture has also shifted for many Mexican Americans. Norms such as career choices, dating life, gender roles, music and values were changed and adapted to American culture.
Today, we have music genres such as Banda and Norteño that have gained popularity in the United States. Artists such as Selena and Jennifer Lopez have helped popularize Mexican American culture in the media, such as Dia de los Muertos and Cinco de Mayo are celebrated in both countries. The Mexican culture has also become an important component of the United States identity.

They enriched diversity in the nation, bring creativity and share a multicultural landscape.