START WITH RECOGNITION
Lead with a painfully familiar behavior before introducing the word. The audience understands the feeling first, so the definition lands as relief rather than instruction.
ALL WORKCONTACT ↗Independent Creative Exploration// DARK MATTER GRID / CASE STUDY P23
CAMPAIGN STRATEGY / PRODUCT UX / CREATIVE DIRECTION / INTEGRATED MEDIA
THE LOSTENGLISH.
A speculative Duolingo x Merriam-Webster platform that uses forgotten words to name modern life and make richer vocabulary useful again.READ THE STORY ↓
DISCIPLINECAMPAIGN STRATEGY / PRODUCT UX / CREATIVE DIRECTION / INTEGRATED MEDIA
ROLESELF-INITIATED CONCEPT + STRATEGY + ART DIRECTION
PROJECT TYPESPECULATIVE BRAND COLLABORATION / NOT AFFILIATED
PATHRECOGNIZE → LEARN → USE → REVIVE
01
THE CHALLENGE
Start with the tension.
Vocabulary campaigns often feel like homework: lists to memorize instead of language people can use. At the same time, terms such as brain rot, ghosting, and doomscrolling give familiar frustrations new names while vivid older words fade from use. The opportunity is not nostalgia. It is to make precise language useful, current, and worth sharing.
02 / THE ORGANIZING IDEA
“Modern behavior is not new. We simply forgot the words for it.”
03
THE DESIGN LOGIC
How the system works.
GIVE EACH BRAND A JOB
Duolingo owns habit, humor, and practice. Merriam-Webster owns definition, evidence, pronunciation, and editorial trust. Neither brand is decorative.
TURN LEARNING INTO USE
Every lesson ends with a social prompt, workplace translation, or live challenge. Recall matters, but adoption is the behavior the campaign is designed to create.
MAKE REVIVAL VISIBLE
The Living Dictionary tracks learning, correct usage, and geographic spread so the audience can watch a word return to public language in real time.
04
THE IDENTITY
The idea becomes visible.
Duolingo leads the visual system with bright color, clear actions, and familiar learning patterns. Merriam-Webster appears through red editorial rules, serif definitions, citations, and usage notes. The historical material supports the lesson without turning the interface into a period costume.
Speak the other half of it.
LESSON GROTESKPRODUCT / ACTION / HEADLINES
ARCHIVE SERIFDEFINITIONS / ETYMOLOGY / EDITORIAL
CITATION MONODATES / SOURCES / SYSTEM DATA
DUO ACID#58CC02ACTION / PROGRESS
DICTIONARY RED#C92A2ADEFINITION / EDITORIAL
ARCHIVE PAPER#F2E8CFHISTORY / GROUND
INK#171717TYPE / CONTRAST
OWL BLUE#1CB0F6DIGITAL / SIGNAL
05
THE VISUAL LANGUAGE
THE ARCHIVE, MADE ADDICTIVE.
A modular visual language makes every recovered word feel collectible. Oversized definitions, marginal notes, progress bars, editorial rules, and blunt modern translations create a system that can move from a five-inch screen to an entire subway wall.
07
EXPERIENCE
DESIGN FOR USE.
The campaign succeeds when someone recognizes the behavior, remembers the word without help, uses it correctly, and hears it from someone else. Each channel supports one step in that sequence.
THE LOST ENGLISH COURSE
Short scenario-led lessons teach meaning, pronunciation, roots, register, and correct use without turning the interface into a history textbook.
THE JARGON TRANSLATOR
A daily speed round converts corporate fog, internet habits, and social irritations into sharper language people want to repeat.
THE LIVING DICTIONARY
A public data experience shows which words are being learned, correctly used, shared, and revived by city and community.
THE WORD RECOVERY INDEX
A transparent measurement model separates reach from learning: discovery, lesson completion, unaided recall, correct usage, and sustained adoption.
SELF-INITIATED / SPECULATIVE / NOT AFFILIATEDDUOLINGO × MERRIAM-WEBSTER / CONCEPT STUDY
08 / STRATEGIC FOUNDATIONNot a word list.
Not a word list.
A behavior system.
The goal is simple: move a word from recognition to correct, independent use. Each channel supports a specific stage of learning and is measured by more than impressions.
We keep inventing labels for feelings language has already named.
People want sharper language, but reject anything that feels like homework.
Make trusted language guidance as habitual and shareable as a daily streak.
09 / PARTNERSHIP LOGICTwo brands.
Two brands.
Two roles.
The collaboration only works if each partner solves a weakness the other cannot. Duolingo makes learning repeatable. Merriam-Webster makes every claim defensible.
Practice loops, character humor, streaks, notifications, progression, and a global learner community.
MAKES LANGUAGE MOVE.Definitions, pronunciations, usage notes, editorial review, citations, and historical evidence.
MAKES LANGUAGE TRUE.THE LOST ENGLISH7 DAY MONOCLE
UNIT 01 / MODERN ABSURDITY
What is this colleague doing?
“I’m heads-down
on the strategy.”3 unread emails · 0 edits
on the strategy.”3 unread emails · 0 edits
WORD RECOVEREDFUDGEL
Definition, pronunciation, usage evidence, and editorial note supplied by Merriam-Webster.
10 / PRODUCT EXPERIENCEHistory is the reward.
01SCENARIO FIRST 02CONTEXT, NOT TRIVIA 03USE TO COMPLETE
History is the reward.
Recognition is the hook.
The lesson begins with a behavior the learner already knows. Definition and history arrive only after curiosity is earned. Familiar interaction patterns stay intact, while archival cards add authority without slowing the lesson.
Comprehension before terminology.
Register explains when the word helps.
The lesson ends with application.
11 / CONTENT ARCHITECTUREA lexicon
A lexicon
for real life.
Words are organized around situations people recognize today. The course can expand across work, relationships, online behavior, emotional precision, elegant insults, and useful word roots.
FUDGEL
PRETENDING TO WORK
ADD TO COURSE →GROAK
WATCHING SOMEONE EAT
ADD TO COURSE →ULTRACREPIDARIAN
THE UNSOLICITED EXPERT
ADD TO COURSE →DYSANIA
DIFFICULTY RISING
ADD TO COURSE →12 / CAMPAIGN IN THE WORLDA word
A word
for that.
The campaign feels like Duolingo escaped the phone: bright, character-led, quick to read, and built around one satisfying discovery.
QUICK LESSON / 01
Someone giving confident opinions outside their expertise?THERE’S A WORD
ULTRACREPIDARIAN
Someone giving confident opinions outside their expertise?THERE’S A WORD
FOR THAT.
ULTRACREPIDARIANMERRIAM-WEBSTER VERIFIED
Usage matters. The definition card provides pronunciation, register, historical evidence, and guidance on when the word is appropriate.
Severe
clinomania
detected.
Duo diagnoses the modern behavior. Merriam-Webster verifies the word.
DUO · NOW
Thy streak is in grave peril.
01DUO · NOW
Duo has observed eight hours of clinomania.
02DUO · NOW
Do not be an ultracrepidarian. Learn before posting.
0314 / THE HEADLINE ACTIVATIONThe dictionary
The dictionary
comes alive.
The Living Dictionary is the public proof of the idea: a real-time installation and digital experience where words brighten as they are learned, correctly used, and passed between people.
PROPOSED WORD RECOVERY VIEW / UNITED STATESDISCOVERPRACTICEUSE
Target number of editorially verified entries.
Discovery, completion, recall, and correct use.
Proposed window for measuring repeat use.
15 / CONNECTED JOURNEYEvery channel
Every channel
has a job.
The media plan follows how people notice, learn, and repeat language. Each channel moves the audience one step closer to using the word without help.
RECOGNIZE
A familiar modern behavior creates instant self-recognition.
REVEAL
The forgotten word arrives as the punchline and the solution.
LEARN
Scenario, sound, roots, register, and recall build usable knowledge.
USE
A contextual challenge asks the learner to deploy the word correctly.
REVIVE
Correct public usage becomes visible cultural proof.
16 / EVIDENCE + VALIDATIONThere is a need.
There is a need.
And a way to test it.
These figures come from outside research. They are not campaign results. They point to a literacy need, less reading for pleasure, and an established learning method. The campaign would then be tested for recall and correct use.
of U.S. fourth graders performed at or above NAEP Proficient in 2024. SOURCE ↗
of 13-year-olds reported reading for fun almost every day in 2025, down from 27% in 2012. SOURCE ↗
appear in Duolingo’s published longitudinal language-learning research dataset. SOURCE ↗
Duolingo’s learning path uses spaced repetition to revisit material over time. SOURCE ↗
PROPOSED CAMPAIGN TEST
Pre-register success thresholds for 7-day unaided recall, contextual accuracy, and 30-day repeat use. Report those outcomes separately from impressions and course starts.
17 / EDITORIAL GUARDRAILSFunny does not mean
Funny does not mean
factually loose.
VERIFY THE ENTRY. Every word requires dictionary evidence, a clear definition, pronunciation, usage status, and an editorially approved explanation.
LABEL THE REGISTER. Archaic, rare, dialectal, historical, and obsolete are not interchangeable. The learner should know the difference.
AVOID FALSE PROMISES. The campaign supports vocabulary curiosity and practice; it does not claim that one course can solve literacy inequity.
08
THE RESULT
A system with gravity.
The Lost English takes vocabulary practice into public life. Duolingo supplies the habit and humor. Merriam-Webster supplies the definition and evidence. The campaign connects attention with recall, correct use, and long-term adoption. This is a self-initiated speculative concept and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or commissioned by Duolingo or Merriam-Webster.