And the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year Goes To...

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Wordsmiths around the world have spoken, and the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year has been announced. Heads up: it’s not demure. But it is certainly a conversation starter:

Global (03 December 2024) — Another year of conversations, texting and journalling has zoomed by, bringing with it a slew of words that put the year into perspective. The 2024 Oxford Word of the Year honed in on these year-encapsulating words, sharing six contender words as shortlisted by the Oxford University Press’s (OUP) language experts who proposed this list as a reflection of some of the moods and conservations that shaped the year.

The 2024 Oxford Word of the Year shortlist saw Lore, Brain Rot, Dynamic Pricing, Demure, Slop and Romantasy all vie for the coveted title.

But which word will go down in history as 2024’s choice word? The wait is over for wordsmiths around the world.

Brain Rot is officially the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year; selected through a combination of voting results, public commentary and analysis of OUP’s language data.

What the heck does it mean?

“The supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.”

Its first recorded use came in 1854 by Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden. Of course, Thoreau couldn’t have possibly known what it would relate to centuries later. Back then, it was more to do with the overconsumption of novels or newspapers to the point where it could impact cognitive performance.

Taking a deeper dive into the definition and its widespread use (it’s seen an increase in use by 230% in its frequency from 2023 to 2024), brain rot means that a lot more people are consuming content. The consumption is essentially mindless, too, offering a curious and concerning insight into the attention economy the world now operates within.

Casper Grathwohl, the President of Oxford Languages, says:

“Looking back at Oxford Word of the Year over the last two decades, you can see society’s growing preoccupation with how our virtual lives are evolving, the way internet culture is permeating so much of who we are and what we talk about. Last year’s winning word, ‘rizz’, was an interesting example of how language is increasingly formed, shaped, and shared within online communities. ‘Brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.”

Grathwohl adds:

“It feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversationa bout humanity and technology…I also find it fascinating that the word ‘brain rot’ has been adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, those communities largely responsible for the use and creation of the digital content the term refers to.”

He shares that the word demonstrates a “somewhat cheeky self-awareness” from younger generations, one that recognises the negative impact of the social media they inherited and continue to create.

Product Director Katherine Martin says: “We see this concern about how our capacity for thought might be negatively impacted by consuming a lot of algorithmic online content, like short-form video. There’s an anxiety coming through about striking the right balance between the online world and losing touch with the real world. I think it’s great that young people also use this term to refer to the type of language used by people who overindulge in online content, which is wonderfully recursive and self-referential.”