While the summer of 2023 was defined by “Barbenheimer,” 2024 was the summer of “brat” and “demure.” In our social media driven culture, art is perceived through the lens of what is shareable and profitable, so the popularity of vernacular language directly affects the popularity of the art it is associated with. These phrases, popular within teenage vernacular, originated from pop culture and social media, specifically Charlie XCX’s album and a viral Tik Tok by Jools Lebron.
Brat has made its way around the internet with the hashtag: #bratsummer, but even if summer 2024 is over, the word has taken on a new meaning as the phrase “kamala IS brat” rises in popularity for the upcoming election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump after @charlie_xcx posted it to X on July 22.
As for demure, the word comes from a Tik Tok originally published on Aug 2, 2024 by Jools Lebron entitled “How to be demure at work.” After this initial video went viral, Lebron embraced the success and proceeded to make videos about doing other tasks in a “demure” manner.
According to Psychology Today’s article entitled Teen Talk and Linguistic Evolution “what comes out of the mouths of teens is not linguistic revolution but instead its evolution.” Since dialects come from how a language is spoken, it makes sense that language would be influenced by culture. Since adolescence is a formative period in life, it is understandable that pop culture influences seeping through social groups will impact vernacular language.
As these words circulate, they can take on new meanings. For example, brat is defined by the Miriam Webster Dictionary as an “ill-mannered child.” However, as it has taken on associations with Charlie XCX’s album, it has taken on a meaning of a “carefree vibe” – significantly changing the connotations and meaning of the word.
In the same way that brands can claim their logo and make money off of it, words can have monetary significance when they gain significant popularity. Unbeknownst to many users of “demure,” Lebron has been in a battle over the trademark of the demure phrases. After the word gained popularity, trademark applications for the phrase “Very demure… Very mindful” and “Very Demure Very Cutesy” arose from sources unaffiliated with Lebron or her video. Lebron responded by filing her own trademarks for the phrases. According to Deborah Gerhardt, a professor at UNC Chapel Hill, in an NPR interview “trademark professionals have a word for this kind of person. We call them a ‘trademark troll.’”
Since this incident arose, Lebron has assured people that the issue has been resolved, but the exact resolution remains private. Regardless of the solution, this calls to question how our current digital era leaves gray space for trademarks regarding viral phrases both for their ability to be free use and the technology needed to prevent Trademark Trolls from profiting off of unsuspecting influencers.
While it is uncertain how long these words will remain in teen language, when they do inevitably die out, they will be replaced by other words likely to have origins in pop culture. It is not a question of if teenage vernacular will evolve but rather a question of when.
