Language Matters | Word of the Year 2024 choices around the world focus on the negative
From Merriam-Webster’s ‘polarization’ and Oxford University Press’ ‘brain rot’ to Lianhe Zaobao’s ‘disaster’, prevailing moods are revealed
Are you brat, or very demure, very mindful? Has it been a year of brain rot and ensh**tification?
If these resonate, then you have been experiencing the moods and conversations of this past year – as reflected by the Word of the Year (WOTY) choices for 2024.
These words or phrases are selected by dictionaries and other language-related bodies – by committee, usually based on usage frequency or readers’ poll – as embodying the year’s zeitgeist, the spirit of the age.
Several 2024 choices underscore the dominance of internet culture.
“Brain rot” – WOTY at Oxford University Press, publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary – refers to the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material, particularly online content, considered trivial or unchallenging.
The term was first used 170 years ago, in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, which highlights society’s tendency to devalue complex ideas in favour of simple ones, indicative of a general decline in mental and intellectual effort.
