Words of the Year 2024

 by Sybil Johnson

It’s that time of the year again. No, I don’t mean Thanksgiving, though it is tomorrow. I’m busy prepping for that. 

No, I mean the time when the words of the year start rolling in. Here’s what’s going on so far.

• Merriam-Webster, an American dictionary, has been selecting a woty since 2003 when it chose democracy. They choose based on which words were most frequently looked up on their website. No “word” yet on what the 2024 woty is.

• Collins, a British dictionary, has been selecting a woty since 2013 when it chose geek. 

Its 2024 word of the year is brat which is defined as someone who is "characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude". This, apparently, is newly defined for 2024 and inspired by the Charli XCX album by that same name.

Don’t know who Charli XCX is, but apparently among the young’uns (at least in the UK) it’s one of the most talked about words for 2024. 

Other words that were finalists: 

delulu, meaning to be "utterly mistaken or unrealistic in one's ideas or expectations" I guess this comes from delusional. 

looksmaxxing, a word commonly used in online male communities that refers to "attempting to maximize the attractiveness of one's physical appearance" 

rawdogging, the growing travel trend where passengers abstain from in-flight entertainment and other travel perks. That means no movies, no music, no snacks, no napping!, no using a phone. So you just stare at the seat in front of you. Yeah, not going to do that. 

yapping, which means talking at length about things that don't really matter that much. I think people have been doing this for a long, long time.

 supermajority, a political term that became popular around the UK general election in July.

• Cambridge, another British dictionary, has been choosing its words of the year since 2015 when they picked austerity. 

The 2024 word of the year is manifest. According to the British dictionary, it refers to the practice of using “methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen,” 

I feel like people have been talking about manifesting things for a very long time, particularly celebrities, including Dua Lipa and Simone Biles this past year. 

Maybe we should all try to manifest a more peaceful, positive world.

• Macquarie, an Australian dictionary, has been choosing a woty since 2006 when it picked muffin top. The 2024 word is enshittification. This was also the American Dialect Society’s word of the year for 2023. Macquarie defines it as “The gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking."

•  Oxford, another British dictionary, has been choosing a woty since 2004 when it picked chav, which I have never heard of. According to the dictionary it means “a young person of a type characterized by coarse and brash behavior (with connotations of low social status).” 

Apparently, they haven’t announced the 2024 woty yet, but brain rot is one of the finalists. It’s a supposed decline in a person's mental or intellectual state, often attributed to consuming too much trivial or unchallenging content, especially online.

Among the other finalists are: 

dynamic pricing: Varying the price of a product or service to reflect market conditions. Anyone who goes to Disneyland and other theme parks these days knows this one.

romantasy: A genre of fiction that combines elements of romance and fantasy, often with themes of magic, adventure, or the supernatural. I have heard this used a lot this past year.

slop: Art, writing, or other content created using artificial intelligence, and shared online in an indiscriminate or intrusive way 

Voting closes on November 28th.

• The American Dialect Society has been choosing a woty since 1990 when it chose bushlips, referring to insincere political rhetoric. It comes from President Bush’s speech about reading his lips and no new taxes. The society doesn’t choose its word until January. They are open for nominations.

• dictionary.com has been choosing since 2010 when it picked change. It’s 2024 woty is demure. They analyzed things like news headlines and social media to see what words were trending. Demure, apparently, had a 1200% increase in usage over the last year! Can’t say I’ve used it. According to the article linked above, demure now means “ refined and sophisticated appearance or behavior in various contexts, such as at work or on a plane.”

That’s what’s going on so far. Your challenge is to try using some of these words in a sentence! 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!