The year 2024 is all but over, but the Oxford word of the year, is likely to linger on for years to come, so apposite is it to our times.
Each year, Oxford University Press, the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary, decide on a winner for word of the year. A panel of experts looks at the most popularly used words in a year, from which they draw a short list, and finally a winner. To help them, there is also a public vote, which they take into consideration.
This year’s winner, with nearly 40,000 votes, is “Brain rot.” If you immediately thought, social media, then you are either highly observant, or perhaps in need of stepping away from your keyboard, to protect yourself from brain rot.
The state is defined as “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.”
According to Oxford University Press, use of the term “gained new prominence in 2024 as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media.”
To counter, or perhaps complement brain rot, Cambridge University Press, announced “demure” as their word of the year. The word, which again was popularised by social media, does not travel too far away from its established dictionary definition. The social media “demure,” is to be restrained, and mindful of how you conduct yourself. Sensible, timely advice, given the nature of social media.
And if you find all that overwhelming, and are minded to rebel against the expectations of society, you could resort to getting into a state that 2022’s word of the year termed “Goblin mode,” defined as somewhat self centred, showing a total disregard to the demands of convention.
And to cure or even better, prevent brain rot? Your doctor, or more likely, therapist, might prescribe a dumb mobile telephone, or more conversations with your friends and loved ones, instead of your “followers” on social media.
