For centuries, immigrant communities have significantly influenced mainstream American culture, whether through culinary practices, art, media, and even the American English dialect through vocabulary, pronunciation, and slang. Jewish communities introduced Yiddish words such as “nosh,” “schmuck,” and “schlep,” while Spanish-speaking communities contributed vocabulary related to the landscape and culture of the Southwest and Latin America.
At the same time, the US has long dominated global media, from Hollywood films and blockbuster TV shows to music, streaming platforms, and social media networks. This simultaneous influence of both culture and media enabled unique phrasing and vocabulary found solely within immigrant communities to spread rapidly, not only in the US but also worldwide. As global access to the internet continues to grow, so does the influence of US-based immigrant cultures, and examples can be found in nearly every medium. Below, weโll break down how this phenomenon evolved and what it means for the evolution of global slang.
TV and Film
Some of the earliest examples of slang originating in US immigrant communities being spread globally through media can be found in TV and film. Hollywood itself was shaped by waves of immigrants, from European Jews to Italians, who brought linguistic quirks that filtered into scripts. Jewish influence on Hollywood brought Yiddish into mainstream American entertainment. By the 1960s and 70s, words like ‘chutzpah,’ ‘kvetch,’ and ‘schmaltz’ appeared regularly in sitcoms and talk shows, exposing global audiences to these terms through popular media.
Italian-American expressions were similarly popularized through film. Gangster classics like The Godfather and Goodfellas introduced terms such as โgoombahโ and โfuggedaboutit,โ which have since become globally recognized phrases, appearing in translated versions of the films and later being referenced in other media worldwide.
Even more recent examples show how immigrant communities influence global pop culture. In the Disney series Never Have I Ever, the main character, an Indian-American teen, mixes English with Hindi and Tamil phrases, sparking interest in and adoption of these words among global viewers, even outside the US and India. Similarly, films like My Big Fat Greek Wedding popularized Greek-American idioms such as โopa!โ and others.
Music
Music has been a particularly powerful vector for immigrant slang. Latino communities in Los Angeles and Miami have shaped American pop and hip-hop culture through bilingual expression. Artists like Shakira and Bad Bunny seamlessly code-switch between English and Spanish within single songs, normalizing the fluid linguistic identity of US Latino communities. Their global popularity has made this code-switching style recognizable worldwide, even in countries with no large Hispanic populations.
Hip-hop, deeply influenced by African-American culture and Caribbean immigrant communities, has been particularly effective at spreading slang globally. Terms rooted in these communities, from ‘bling’ to Caribbean patois expressions, now appear in music worldwide. These phrases travel not just through music but also through interviews, lyrics annotations, and online discussions, subtly spreading immigrant-rooted slang globally.
Social Media, Memes, and Content Creation
Today, social media accelerates the global spread of immigrant-influenced language even further. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram allow creators from immigrant backgrounds to document daily life in ways that feel authentic and shareable. For example, second-generation Korean-American creators often include Korean phrases like โaegyoโ (a display of affection) or โoppaโ (older brother/romantic term) in their videos.
The same goes for South Asian-American creators, who frequently use words like โdesiโ to describe shared cultural experiences. Viral memes about family dinners, weddings, or holiday traditions spread these terms globally, embedding them into internet culture. Even simple words like “nani” (maternal grandmother in Hindi) or “dada” (paternal grandfather) are being adopted internationally through social media, often accompanied by relatable content that helps audiences understand the context without formal language instruction.
The Reoccurring Feedback Loop of Global Slang
Whatโs interesting is the recursive nature of this influence. Immigrant communities bring their languages to the US, which are amplified through media, and then they return, and are sometimes modified into the immigrantsโ home countries. For instance, phrases from Jewish-American sitcoms or Italian-American films have been adopted and adapted in Europe, while South Asian-American slang often appears in Bollywood social media and youth culture. This global loop is a keen example of how the US functions as a crucible for cultural export, particularly for immigrant communities whose expressions might otherwise remain localized.
As weโve seen throughout these examples, immigrant communities not only enrich American English but also shape the evolution of global slang and demonstrate the profound power of media as a cultural amplifier. This phenomenon also strongly points to a marked maturity and elevation of the media, film, and music industries themselves, where a diversity of cultural identities and viewpoints can be received in a positive light and immigrant languages and expressions have the opportunity to become broadcast worldwide in ways that may have once been unattainable.
