Oxford University Press (OUP), who publish the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), have named brain rot as their Word of the Year 2024. Consuming too much online content, especially short, narrative-light formats like TikTok videos, is thought to cause mental or intellectual decline.
This shows the growing conversation around digital consumption and mental health. Brain rot sums up the 2024 trend of questioning how technology affects our minds.
Why Brain Rot Dominates the Digital Age
OUP’s Word of the Year reflects the cultural conversation and shifts. As part of this process, researchers analyse a massive corpus of 26 billion words from English language news sources worldwide to pinpoint the year’s mood and trends. For 2024, the rise of brain rot shows the concern around mindless scrolling and content overload.
Despite its popularity, it’s not in the Oxford English Dictionary yet. Neither is rizz (2023) nor goblin mode (2022) since they don’t meet the OED’s criteria for sustained usage.
A Look at the OED’s Standards
The OED, known for its curation, prioritises language longevity. Even well known terms need years of persistent usage before being added. For example, the dictionary recently added tech-savvy, a term first used in the 1980s.
This balance between capturing modern slang and ensuring linguistic durability means that terms like brain rot may need to prove themselves to get into the OED.
The Significance of Word of the Year
OUP’s choice of brain rot is about a cultural moment where digital consumption and mental wellbeing intersect. It’s an invitation to have a deeper conversation about the hours we spend in bite-sized, often shallow content.
As we live in the digital age, the rise of terms like brain rot reminds us to think about how technology affects us – an important consideration for individuals and communities alike.
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