>>108631411Common vernacular of internet users.
4chan users, no one else mattersIf we look at the data from desuarchive for the use of ESL over two 5 year timeframes: 2015-2020 and 2020-2025, we seen that for the 5 sample boards, /a/, /int/, /co/, /tg/ and /fit/ there is a noticeable increase in the frequency of use.
The smallest increase percent wise is seen on /a/, where the word was used 30k times in the first and 60k times in the second timeframe, so it doubled in use.
For the rest of the boards, the increase in use is anywhere from 5 to 10 fold.
Using /fit/ for a secondary test where each year is checked individually, the word ESL was used
>52 times in 2015>77 times in 2016>89 times in 2017>168 times in 2018>339 times in 2019I won't check 2020 because Covid, but there is a clear trend and it is arguable that around 2018 is when the use of ESL started getting broader appeal.
While /a/ clearly shows your point that ESL is a long established term, the other 4 boards show that the way how it is used has changed starting around 2018, becoming a more general purpose insult to use against someone who can't write coherently in English, like me.
So while /a/tards were talking about JOPs and EOPs and ESLs, other places on this site were using mostly alternative means to insult each others language skills.
