Top Words of 2024: Polarization, Cognitive Decline, and Spoiled Youth
Since the American Dialect Society designated a Word of the Year at its 1990 conference, numerous English dictionaries have each chosen a word or phrase annually to represent the spirit of the previous year.
In 2003, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary publisher began awarding a title. On December 9, 2024, it chose “polarisation” as its word of the year, joining a list of 2024 selections from other dictionaries that includes “brat,” “manifest,” “demure,” “brain rot,” and “enshittification.”
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The honored terms are selected through various methods. This year, for instance, editors from the Oxford dictionaries allowed the public to vote on a short list of nominees, with brain rot emerging as the winner.
Other publishers depend on their editors’ expertise, supplemented by metrics like online search volumes for specific terms.
In light of the significant decline in printed reference book sales, these annual announcements increase the visibility of the publishers’ offerings. Their selections also provide insight into the current cultural climate.
As a cognitive scientist specializing in language and communication, I have observed that this year’s winners reflect the many ways in which digital existence shapes the English language and culture.
Hits and Misses
This year isn’t unique in having almost all winners fall under a singular theme. In 2020, words related to the epidemic—Covid, lockdown, pandemic, and quarantine—dominated the selections.
Typically, however, there’s a broader variety, with some choices proving more insightful and relevant than others. For example, in 2005, the New Oxford American Dictionary picked “podcast” just before its popularity skyrocketed.
More often than not, the celebrated neologisms do not stand the test of time.
In 2008, the New Oxford American Dictionary selected hypermiling, which means driving to optimize fuel efficiency. The term permacrisis, indicating a continued state of emergency, was chosen by Collins Dictionary in 2022.
Neither of these terms sees much current usage in 2024.
Manifesting Brain Rot
I can foresee one of this year’s selections—“brat”—fading into obscurity.
Just prior to the 2024 U.S. elections, Collins Dictionary selected brat as its word of the year, defining it as “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.”
Coincidentally, it also doubled as the title of a hit album released by Charli XCX in June 2024. In late July, the singer tweeted, “kamala IS brat,” expressing her support for the Democratic presidential candidate.
However, with Harris’s defeat, brat has lost some of its appeal.
Other words of the year in 2024 have also benefited from social media trends.
In late November, Cambridge Dictionary selected manifest as its word of the year, describing it as “to use visualization and affirmation methods to envision achieving something desired.”
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The term gained popularity when singer Dua Lipa mentioned it in an interview, seemingly inspired by self-help discussions on TikTok.
Another term that evidently gained traction from social media is “demure,” which Dictionary.com chose in late November. Although the word itself dates back to the 15th century, it became viral through a TikTok video featuring Jools Lebron in early August, where she defined proper workplace interaction as “very demure, very mindful.”
The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English selected “enshittification” as its word in early December. Coined by Canadian-British author Cory Doctorow in 2022, it describes the gradual decline in the effectiveness or usability of a service or platform—something users of Google, TikTok, X, and dating apps can confirm.
The Oxford dictionary’s choice for 2024—“brain rot”—reflects the mind-numbing consequences of excessive social media consumption.
The dictionary defines its word of the year as “an alleged decline in one’s mental or intellectual faculties, particularly as a result of overindulging in content (especially trivial or unchallenging online material).”
However, brain rot is not a new idea. In the closing section of “Walden,” Henry David Thoreau lamented that “brain rot” was prevalent “widely and fatally.”
Digital Knives Out
Merriam-Webster chose “polarisation” as its Word of the Year, defining it as “the division into two sharply distinct opposites; particularly, a state wherein the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society are no longer spread along a continuum but instead become concentrated at opposing extremes.”
In the U.S., political polarization has various causes, from gerrymandering to in-group biases.
However, social media undoubtedly plays a significant role. A 2021 report from the Brookings Institution highlighted “the connection between tech platforms and the extreme polarization that can lead to the degradation of democratic principles and partisan violence.” Journalist Max Fisher has reported on how algorithms used by these social media platforms “drive users toward outrage,” a claim supported by experimental research on the subject.
Despite the polarization in political and social realms, dictionaries have at least reached a consensus: The tech giants are influencing our lives and our language, for better or worse.
Roger J Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.