'Brain rot': Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2024
Between Trump in the U.S., Poilievre in Canada, Rustad in B.C., Maahs in Chilliwack, there was more than enough stagnant, mould-ridden thinking last year
Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2024 is "brain rot."
Definition: "(n.) Supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as a result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration."
Some examples of brain rot we saw in 2024 international to local:
• America re-elected brain-addled MAGA man Donald Trump.
• In Canada, our own Maple MAGA Pierre Poilievre's popularity skyrocketed thanks to "Fuck Trudeau" bumper stickers put on pickup trucks by science deniers.
• In B.C., thousands of people voted for BC Conservative leader John Rustad and his candidates who are generally: anti-vaxxers, climate-change deniers, anti-harm reduction, and they believe the genocidal residential school system is akin to their own "parental rights" movement, the social conservative campaign against teaching students about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
• And in Chilliwack we elected two BC Conservatives. (See above.)
It does indeed see that at least at the political level, "brain rot" became the new epidemic in 2024.
Some other dictionary's 2024 Words of The Year:
• Cambridge Dictionary: manifest
• Collins Dictrionary: brat
• Dictionary.com: demure
• Merriam-Webster: polarization
• My favourite is from the Macquarie Dictionary, the dictionary of Australian English: enshittification. The colloquial term is defined 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."
Seems like a good word to describe, oh I don't know, Telus and Twitter to name a couple.
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Paul J. Henderson
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