Words of the Year for 2024
What a year — a vertible tsunami of neologisms, like brainrot, slop, enshittification, rawdogging, looksmaxxing, and delulu.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language,” wrote the poet T. S. Eliot, “and next year’s words await another voice.” To that observation, we can add: this past year’s words also define the language, the conversations, or more accurately, the zeitgeist of the year. Editors of dictionaries take one of two approaches to determine the word of the year: ethos or data. If ethos- driven, the word of the year is a word or expression reflecting the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the past twelve months, one that has potential as a term of lasting cultural significance. If data-driven, the word of the year is selected based on the highest number of dictionary lookups (including spikes) over the course of the year.
To determine the 2024 word of the year, the editors of the revered Oxford Dictionaries analyzed its language data and presented the public a list of words that had surged in popularity during the course of the year. Once the public (37,000 people voted) had narrowed down the list, the editors selected the word of the year. The editors chose “brain rot”as the word of the year for 2024. Brain rot is defined as “Supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as a result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.”
The editors of the Oxford Dictionaries noted: “Our experts noticed that ‘brain rot’ gained new prominence this year as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media. The term increased in usage frequency by 230% between 2023 and 2024. The first recorded use of ‘brain rot’ was found in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, but has taken on new significance as an expression in the digital age.” Who knew that Throreau was so prescient about culture?
Finalists included: demure (a person who is reserved or restrained in appearance or behavior; not showy); dynamic pricing (the practice of charging a higher price at a time of greater demand); lore (a body of supposed facts, background information, and anecdotes relating to something or someone, regarded as information for full understanding of the subject); romantasy (a genre of fiction combining elements of romantic fiction and fantasy, often involving themes of magic or supernatural, alongside a romantic story); slop (writing, art, or other content generated by AI, shared online in an indiscriminate way, and characterized as being of low quality or inaccurate).
Meanwhile, the editors of Merriam-Webster selected the word “polarization” as its 2024 Word of the Year. The word is defined as “division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.” The editors note: “Polarization means division, but it’s a very specific kind of division. Polarization means that we are tending toward the extremes rather than toward the center… It’s used by both sides [Democrats and Republicans], and in a little bit ironic twist to the word, it’s something that actually everyone agrees on.”
Other candidates for word of the year included: demure, fortnight, totality, resonate, allision, weird, cognitive, pander, and Democracy. The only word from that list that will perplex most readers is “allision.” “Allision” is maritime jargon for a ship that runs into a stationary object; as opposed to a “collision” when two ships crash into one another.
For 2024 Word of the Year, the editors of Dictionary.com reviewed search engine results and tends on social media to select “demure,” defined as “(1) characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved. (2) affectedly or coyly decorous, sober, or sedate.” The editors explained, “The word demure experienced a meteoric rise in usage in 2024. Between January and the end of August, this term saw a nearly 1200% increase in usage in digital web media alone. This sharp rise is mainly attributed to TikToker Jools Lebron’s popularization of the phrase ‘very demure, very mindful’ in a series of videos posted to the platform in early August.” In that TikTok video titled “How to be Demure and Modest and Respectful at the Work Place”, posted from her car on August 2, 2024, Lebron, who identifies as transgender, discusses how she gets ready for work as a cashier at Mariano’s Supermarket located in Chicago, Illinois:
“See how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful. I don’t come to work with a green cut crease. I don’t look like a clown when I go to work. I don’t do too much. I’m very mindful while I’m at work. See how I look? Very presentable the way I came to the interview is the way I go to the job. A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma — not demure. I am very modest. I am very mindful. You see my shirt? Only a little chichi out — not my chocho. Be mindful of why they hired you. There’s your reality check, Diva. What’s the name you’d like me to make it out to?”
There are several interesting word choices in Lebron’s “demure” monologue that require some notes for those who are not hip to pop culture and slang. Let’s start with the third sentence: “a green cut crease” is a makeup technique where the crease of the eyelid is clearly defined with green eyeshadow, creating an obvious “cut” line along the crease, making the eyes appear larger and more defined. “Marge Simpson” is a colorful fictional character from the animated Fox sitcom The Simpsons, drawn with huge eyes, yellow skin, and a towering blue beehive hairstyle. “Patty and Selma” are Marge’s twin sisters. Like her sister, they are as colorful — drawn with yellow skin, scornful eyes, and purple afro hairstyles. “Chichi” is Spanish slang for breast (typically the word is used in its plural form, “chichis” to refer to breasts); so “a little chi chi out” refers to the modest baring of the breast. “Chocho” (more commonly spelled “chocha”) is Spanish slang for vagina; thus “not my chocho” means not revealing one’s — ahem, lower external genitals. Keep in mind that in Spanish slang, the meanings of “chichi” and “chocho” can vary depending on the region — what they mean in one country or area may be different from their meaning in another, whether in Latin America or Spain. For example, “chichi” in Argentina means “a young woman”; in Bolivia it means “girlfriend”; in some parts of Mexico it means “grandmother or nursemaid”; in Panama and the Dominican Republic it means “baby or little one”; and in Spain it can mean “vagina.” So the next time you want to use “chichi” be very mindful of where you are — doublecheck with locals to make sure you are using the word correctly; otherwise be prepared to face ridicule or scorn.
The editors of Dictionary.com elaborate on their selection for Word of the Year: “Though the term demure has traditionally been used to describe those who are reserved, quiet, or modest, a new usage has spread through social media — one used to describe refined and sophisticated appearance or behavior in various contexts, such as at work or on a plane. This increased focus on public appearance and behavior comes at a time when employees are increasingly returning to offices after hybrid remote work following the pandemic.”
Words that made the shortlist for 2024 Word of the Year include: brainrot, brat, extreme weather, Midwest nice, and weird.
Collins Dictionary, published in Glasgow, Scotland, selected “brat” as its 2024 Word of the Year. Although the traditional definition is “a badly behave child”, the editors of Collins are referring to the newly-defined term as “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.” The editors elaborate, “Inspired by the Charli XCX album, ‘brat’ has become one of the most talked about words of 2024. More than a hugely successful album, ‘brat’ is a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally, and ‘brat summer’ established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life.” Other words that were considered for Word of the Year include: brainrot, era, looksmaxxing, rawdogging, anti-tourism, delulu, romantasy, supermajority, and yapping. Three of those words might be unfamiliar to most readers. Looksmaxxing is defined as “attempting to maximize the attractiveness of one’s physical appearance.” Rawdogging is defined as “the act of undertaking an activity without preparation, support, or equipment.” Delulu is defined as utterly mistaken or unrealistic in one’s ideas or expectations.
The Macquarie Dictionary, published in Australia, selected enshittification as its 2024 Word of the Year. Enshittification is defined as a colloquial noun meaning “the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking.” The dictionary’s committee described enshittification as “a very basic Anglo-Saxon term wrapped in affixes which elevate it to being almost formal; almost respectable.” The word was coined by science fiction writer and tech critic Cory Doctorow in January 2023 in an essay from his blog, Pluralistic: Daily Links from Cory Doctorow, titled “TikTok’s enshittification”:
“Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. I call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a ‘two sided market,’ where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, holding each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them… This is enshittification: surpluses are first directed to users; then, once they’re locked in, surpluses go to suppliers; then once they’re locked in, the surplus is handed to shareholders and the platform becomes a useless pile of shit. From mobile app stores to Steam, from Facebook to Twitter, this is the enshittification lifecycle.”
Runners up included: right to disconnect, rawdogging, brainrot, social battery. Interestingly, in Australia, “rawdogging” has a different definition than the Scots: “the act of undertaking a long-haul flight with no electronic entertainment, devices or reading material, as film, music, games, laptops, books, etc.” As you might surmise, social battery refers to “a supposed energy reserve someone has for engaging in social interactions, the reserve being depleted or stimulated depending on circumstances and an individual’s personality.”
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