London (AP) It’s official: brain rot is the Oxford Dictionary’s term of the year. Many of us have experienced it.
The evocative term achieved fresh popularity in 2024, according to Oxford University Press on Monday, with its frequency of use rising 230% from the previous year.
According to Oxford, brain rot is the alleged decline in a person’s mental or intellectual health, particularly when it is thought to be caused by excessive intake of trivial or undemanding information, especially online content.
The goal of the word of the year is to be a phrase or term that captures a key idea from the previous 12 months.
Oxford lexicographers used a combination of linguistic analysis and public vote to select brain rot. It defeated five other finalists: lore, dynamic pricing, slop, modesty, and romance.
Although it could appear to be a more recent phenomenon, Henry David Thoreau used brain rot for the first time in his 1854 ode to nature, Walden.
According to Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, brain rot in its contemporary context refers to one of the alleged risks of virtual life and how we use our leisure time.
It seems like a fitting continuation of the cultural dialogue about technology and humanity. “The fact that so many voters adopted the term and supported it as our choice this year is not surprising,” he said.
The Oxford word of the year from the previous year, wasrizz, is a play on the term charisma and refers to the capacity of an individual to entice or entice another individual.
The album title that became a symbol of summertime living is the 2024 Collins Dictionary word of the year.
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