I admit, I thought when Cambridge Dictionary unveiled their word of the year selection of “manifest” in mid/late November, it was a wee bit early to declare any X-of-the-year. But I guess it’s like seeing Halloween candy pop up at drugstores in August now — no one wants to be the last to get their goods out there! Before November was even over, Dictionary.com debuted their pick, “demure,” and now we have a new entry from Oxford University Press: Brain Rot. Once I got over the fact that Oxford’s “word” of the year is… two words (which was a real journey for my nerdy heart, let me tell you), I appreciated the contrast that “brain rot” offers as compared to the afore-announced WOTYs. While “manifest” and “demure” have positive, aspirational connotations, “brain rot” is an honest assessment of where much of our society is today: decaying intellectually from overexposure to online content of, er, dubious quality. Here are some words from Oxford on their choice:

Many of us have felt it, and now it’s official: “brain rot” is the Oxford dictionaries’ word of the year.

Oxford University Press said Monday that the evocative phrase “gained new prominence in 2024,” with its frequency of use increasing 230% from the year before.

Oxford defines brain rot 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.”

The word of the year is intended to be “a word or expression that reflects a defining theme from the past 12 months.”

“Brain rot” was chosen by a combination of public vote and language analysis by Oxford lexicographers. It beat five other finalists: demure, slop, dynamic pricing, romantasy and lore.

While it may seem a modern phenomenon, the first recorded use of “brain rot” was by Henry David Thoreau in his 1854 ode to the natural world, “Walden.”

Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said that in its modern sense, “‘brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.”

“It feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology. It’s not surprising that so many voters embraced the term, endorsing it as our choice this year,” he said.

Last year’s Oxford word of the year was “rizz,” a riff on charisma, used to describe someone’s ability to attract or seduce another person.

Collins Dictionary’s 2024 word of the year is “brat” — the album title that became a summer-living ideal.

[From AP News]

To go from “rizz” to “brain rot” in one year is quite impressive… so congrats to us! But I’ve got a bigger question after reading this reporting, so bear with me here: Oxford says that their other finalists were demure, slop, dynamic pricing, romantasy, and lore. “Demure” was obviously Dictionary.com’s WOTY, and they in turn confirmed that their runner ups included brainrot (as one word!), brat, extreme weather, midwest nice, and weird. This article mentions that Collins Dictionary went with “brat,” and Cambridge (who named “manifest” as their winner) also had “brat” on their shortlist. So obviously, there’s plenty of overlap. My question is: do all the major dictionaries have an October Summit wherein they compare data and allocate words so that no two end up with the same WOTY? Or do they really expect us to believe that it just miraculously happens that there aren’t any repeats? Because all I’m picturing now is a conference of heavy tomes, represented like stop-motion animation figures, haggling this out in heated, loquacious arguments! Is there a hierarchy among dictionaries? Or do they rotate yearly depending on who leads the proceedings? Listen Cambridge, Oxford, et al — you can’t cover this up any longer, the word is out!

And if you liked this little diversion, remember: books + imagination = a cure for brain rot!

Photos credit: Ketut Subiyanto and Monstera Production on Pexels