
Since the American Dialect Society selected its first Word of the Year at the 1990 conference, many English dictionaries have each picked a word or phrase annually to encapsulate the essence of the prior year.
In 2003, the publisher of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary initiated an annual title. On December 9, 2024, it chose “polarisation” as its word of the year, adding it to the list of 2024 selections from other dictionaries, which includes “brat,” “manifest,” “demure,” “brain rot,” and “enshittification.”
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The selected terms are chosen using various approaches. For instance, this year, editors from the Oxford dictionaries permitted public voting on a shortlist of nominees, with brain rot prevailing as the winner.
Other publishers rely on their editors’ insights, augmented by data such as online search volumes for specific terms.
Given the noticeable decline in sales of printed reference books, these annual declarations enhance the visibility of publishers’ offerings while also shedding light on the contemporary cultural landscape.
As a cognitive scientist focused on language and communication, I have noticed that this year’s selections mirror how digital life influences the English language and culture.
Hits and Misses
This year is not an exception in having nearly all winners share a common theme. In 2020, terms related to the pandemic—Covid, lockdown, pandemic, and quarantine—overwhelmed the choices.
However, typically, there is a wider range of options, with some selections being more thought-provoking and relevant than others. For example, in 2005, the New Oxford American Dictionary selected “podcast” just before it gained immense popularity.
More often than not, the celebrated neologisms do not endure over time.
In 2008, the New Oxford American Dictionary chose hypermiling, which refers to driving to improve fuel efficiency. The term permacrisis, denoting an ongoing state of emergency, was selected by Collins Dictionary in 2022.
Neither of these terms is frequently used in 2024.
Manifesting Brain Rot
I suspect one of this year’s selections—“brat”—may soon be forgotten.
Just before the 2024 U.S. elections, Collins Dictionary chose brat as its word of the year, describing it as “exhibiting a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.”
Coincidentally, it also became the title of a popular album by Charli XCX released in June 2024. In late July, the singer tweeted, “kamala IS brat,” showcasing her support for the Democratic presidential candidate.
However, following Harris’s loss, brat has diminished in appeal.
Other words of the year this time have similarly leveraged social media trends.
In late November, the Cambridge Dictionary named manifest as its word of the year, defining it as “to apply visualization and affirmation techniques to envision achieving a desired outcome.”
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The term surged in popularity following mentions by singer Dua Lipa during interviews, seemingly influenced by self-help trends on TikTok.
Another term that has gained prominence through social media is “demure,” selected by Dictionary.com in late November. Although the term dates back to the 15th century, it went viral from a TikTok video by Jools Lebron produced in early August, where she characterized appropriate workplace behavior as “very demure, very mindful.”
The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English picked “enshittification” as its word in early December. Coined by Canadian-British author Cory Doctorow in 2022, it refers to the gradual decline in the functionality or usability of a service or platform—something users of Google, TikTok, X, and dating apps can attest to.
The Oxford dictionary’s choice for 2024—“brain rot”—signifies the mental exhaustion stemming from excessive consumption of social media.
The dictionary describes its word of the year as “a supposed decline in an individual’s mental or intellectual faculties, particularly due to overindulgence in content (especially trivial or unchallenging online material).”
Yet, brain rot is not an entirely new concept. In the concluding segment of “Walden,” Henry David Thoreau lamented that “brain rot” was prevalent “widely and fatally.”
Digital Knives Out
Merriam-Webster selected “polarisation” as its Word of the Year, defining it as “the division into two sharply distinct opposites; particularly, a condition where a group’s or society’s opinions, beliefs, or interests are no longer spread along a continuum but instead become focused at opposing extremes.”
In the United States, political polarization has multiple causes, ranging from gerrymandering to in-group biases.
Nevertheless, social media undeniably plays a substantial part. A 2021 report from the Brookings Institution emphasized “the connection between tech platforms and the extreme polarization that can impair democratic principles and lead to partisan violence.” Journalist Max Fisher has reported on how algorithms employed by these social media platforms “drive users toward outrage,” a claim reinforced by experimental studies on the matter.
Despite the polarization in political and social spheres, dictionaries seem to have reached an agreement: The tech giants are shaping our lives and language, for better or worse.
Roger J Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis
This article has been republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.