Jeff T, the shows subtitles writer, used phrases such as “tentacles undulating moistly”, to describe the villain Vecna; “fissure writhing wetly”, to describe a gate opening; and “Nancy bandaging wetly”, as the character Nancy Wheeler attends to a wound

These phrases have become a hit on social media for displaying the sort of verbosity usually found in sixth-form English literature essays 📔

Jeff T said: 🗣️ “My best friend is hard of hearing in one ear, and he came up to me and he was like, ‘This is one of the first times, if [not] the only time, I’ve just felt fully immersed in a show without having to turn the volume all the way up’ ”

The subtitler said that he listened to a number of different sounds to work out which words get the strongest reactions. 🗣️ “I’ll grab them and put them in my word bank,” he says, adding: “ ‘Moistly’ pops up a lot”

Nowadays, subtitles are no longer only for the hard of hearing; they are particularly beloved by younger hearing viewers too (often to the frustration of their parents, who prefer a clear screen) with many users sharing Twitter memes captioned “I can’t hear without my subtitles”

A recent study by Stagetext and Sapio Research, which surveyed more than 2,000 people in Britain, found that 80% of 18 to 25-year-olds want to read as well as hear what people are saying on TV

📺 Do you watch TV with subtitles on?

Before the recent Stranger Things subtitle furore, the BBC drama #KillingEve drew attention for its captions. As Sandra Oh’s character Eve Polastri relieved herself in the bushes, the words on screen read: “urine splashes, relieved sighs”

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@timesculture I made subtitles cool 5 years ago

@timesculture I swear Americans are sooooo behind. The entire world uses subtitles and they just found out about them. How cute 🤣🤣🤣

@timesculture I could've told you that subtitles/captions were cool way before everyone else who wasn't deaf or hard of hearing figured it out too!

@timesculture @ImageKingUSA1 Song lyrics.

@timesculture I have been watching movies/shows with subtitles for over 20 years bruh…they didn’t make it cool lol

@timesculture Stretching for Stranger Things content. 🙄

@timesculture OMG @HeyAmandaR just like we were noticing last night LOL!

@timesculture Subtitles were always cool.

@timesculture If subtitles weren’t always cool, explain this.

@timesculture It was @trailerparkboys that made them cool. Try to keep up.