{"id":23072,"date":"2025-03-02T07:00:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T08:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23072"},"modified":"2025-03-02T08:30:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T08:30:13","slug":"how-elon-musk-uses-internet-slang-to-marshal-his-army-of-online-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23072","title":{"rendered":"How Elon Musk Uses Internet Slang to Marshal His Army of Online Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In 2010, a woman in Sakura, Japan, posted photos of her well-manicured Shiba Inu to her digital journal. The dog, Kabosu, shot her owner a wide-eyed glance, a comic image that quickly jumped from Tumblr to Twitter to Facebook and to the rest of the internet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A meme legend was born. Someone on Reddit <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/ads\/comments\/dsxz3\/lmbo_look_this_fukken_doge\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">called<\/a> the dog \u201cDOGE,\u201d a nonsensical nickname that stuck. Another minted a cryptocurrency in DOGE\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/knowyourmeme\/status\/1890055366358319576\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">15 years later<\/a>, in the fast churn of internet culture, DOGE is considered very old. But try telling that to Elon Musk, who <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/18\/upshot\/doge-contracts-musk-trump.html\" title>has co-opted<\/a> \u201cDOGE\u201d for the name of his effort to gut the machinery of the federal government \u2014 more formally, the Department of Government Efficiency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is one of dozens of old-internet ephemera that are baked into his everyday vocabulary. A brief scroll through Mr. Musk\u2019s X feed reveals a menagerie of aging memes and lingo \u2014 dad jokes for the very online. They include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"css-1le37cb ez3869y0\">\n<li class=\"css-1i3ul0c eoqvrfo0\">\n<p class=\"css-1il0jfh evys1bk0\">Frequent references to \u201c420,\u201d a half-century-old slang term for smoking marijuana said to have started in a high school in Northern California. (After smoking what looked like a blunt live on the Joe Rogan podcast, Mr. Musk briefly changed his Twitter bio to \u201c420.\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"css-1i3ul0c eoqvrfo0\">\n<p class=\"css-1il0jfh evys1bk0\">Regularly including the number \u201c69,\u201d a slang term for a sex act that has been around since at least the Kama Sutra. (Mr. Musk, who is 53 years old, is quick to point out that his birthday falls 69 days after 4\/20.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"css-1i3ul0c eoqvrfo0\">\n<p class=\"css-1il0jfh evys1bk0\">Calling things that he supports \u201cepic\u201d or \u201cbased.\u201d These are adjectives favored by frequent users of Reddit and popularized by fans of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2015\/05\/avengers-jossiest-lines\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Joss Whedon<\/a>, a director who created the \u201cBuffy the Vampire Slayer\u201d television series in the late 1990s and went on to direct two of the Avengers movies. (Mr. Musk has said he wants to create \u201cbased\u201d artificial intelligence with his chatbot, Grok, and recently <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/livecoverage\/tesla-earnings-stock-q4-results-sales-ev-robotaxi-incentives\/card\/elon-musk-predicts-epic-2026-and-ridiculous-2027-10r5SBUxQlKFXU7p6ra1\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">told Tesla investors<\/a> he expected an \u201cepic\u201d 2026 ahead for the company.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Musk\u2019s slang may seem inscrutable to people who aren\u2019t steeped in online culture. But to his fans, Mr. Musk\u2019s dated sensibilities are a kind of internet comfort food \u2014 and a nod to a shared, aggrieved worldview.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Musk\u2019s posts are full of the language of warfare and conquest portrayed in video games. That loaded language is a rallying cry for gamers and others from Mr. Musk\u2019s very online world who \u2014 if they have a common political ideology \u2014 see in him someone who shares their skepticism of authority and their belief that America has gone too \u201cwoke.\u201d To them, Mr. Musk\u2019s online updates about what DOGE is up to come across as far more honest than a press release or news conference or \u2014 worst of all \u2014 something they read in the mainstream media. (It\u2019s a strategy that recalls <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/11\/02\/us\/politics\/trump-twitter-presidency.html\" title>Donald Trump\u2019s use of Twitter<\/a> to signal authenticity during his first administration.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe\u2019re living in the revenge of the nerds era,\u201d Hasan Piker, a popular, politically progressive online personality who is not a fan of Mr. Musk, said in an interview. \u201cThis is the real, actual revenge of the nerds.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1336jj\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171quhb\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F02%2Ftechnology%2Felon-musk-internet-slang.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F02%2Ftechnology%2Felon-musk-internet-slang.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F02%2Ftechnology%2Felon-musk-internet-slang.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F02%2Ftechnology%2Felon-musk-internet-slang.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2010, a woman in Sakura, Japan, posted photos of her well-manicured Shiba Inu to her digital journal. The dog, Kabosu, shot her owner a wide-eyed glance, a comic image that quickly jumped from Tumblr to Twitter to Facebook and to the rest of the internet.A meme legend was born. Someone on Reddit called the dog \u201cDOGE,\u201d a nonsensical nickname that stuck. Another minted a cryptocurrency in DOGE\u2019s name.Now, 15 years later, in the fast churn of internet culture, DOGE is considered very old. But try telling that to Elon Musk, who has co-opted \u201cDOGE\u201d for the name of his effort to gut the machinery of the federal government \u2014 more formally, the Department of Government Efficiency.It is one of dozens of old-internet ephemera that are baked into his everyday vocabulary. A brief scroll through Mr. Musk\u2019s X feed reveals a menagerie of aging memes and lingo \u2014 dad jokes for the very online. They include:Frequent references to \u201c420,\u201d a half-century-old slang term for smoking marijuana said to have started in a high school in Northern California. (After smoking what looked like a blunt live on the Joe Rogan podcast, Mr. Musk briefly changed his Twitter bio to \u201c420.\u201d)Regularly including the number \u201c69,\u201d a slang term for a sex act that has been around since at least the Kama Sutra. (Mr. Musk, who is 53 years old, is quick to point out that his birthday falls 69 days after 4\/20.)Calling things that he supports \u201cepic\u201d or \u201cbased.\u201d These are adjectives favored by frequent users of Reddit and popularized by fans of Joss Whedon, a director who created the \u201cBuffy the Vampire Slayer\u201d television series in the late 1990s and went on to direct two of the Avengers movies. (Mr. Musk has said he wants to create \u201cbased\u201d artificial intelligence with his chatbot, Grok, and recently told Tesla investors he expected an \u201cepic\u201d 2026 ahead for the company.)Mr. Musk\u2019s slang may seem inscrutable to people who aren\u2019t steeped in online culture. But to his fans, Mr. Musk\u2019s dated sensibilities are a kind of internet comfort food \u2014 and a nod to a shared, aggrieved worldview.Mr. Musk\u2019s posts are full of the language of warfare and conquest portrayed in video games. That loaded language is a rallying cry for gamers and others from Mr. Musk\u2019s very online world who \u2014 if they have a common political ideology \u2014 see in him someone who shares their skepticism of authority and their belief that America has gone too \u201cwoke.\u201d To them, Mr. Musk\u2019s online updates about what DOGE is up to come across as far more honest than a press release or news conference or \u2014 worst of all \u2014 something they read in the mainstream media. (It\u2019s a strategy that recalls Donald Trump\u2019s use of Twitter to signal authenticity during his first administration.)\u201cWe\u2019re living in the revenge of the nerds era,\u201d Hasan Piker, a popular, politically progressive online personality who is not a fan of Mr. Musk, said in an interview. \u201cThis is the real, actual revenge of the nerds.\u201dWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23074,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23072"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23075,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23072\/revisions\/23075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}