Every December (before we begin to indulge in a liberal decline of self-discipline and festive singing), the good people at Oxford Languages emerge from their lexicographical lair to crown one unsuspecting word (often plucked from the trenches of memes, politics, or the chaos of everyday life) as the ‘Word of the Year’.
Some may consider this accolade to be the linguistic equivalent of being named captain of the village cricket team (it still happens somewhere in the UK): a fleeting moment of glory before obscurity beckons again.
Some years, the word feels spot-on, like ‘selfie’ in 2013, perfectly capturing humanity’s descent into front-camera self-adoration. Other times, it leaves us scratching our heads, like 2015’s emoji 😂. Imagine explaining that to Shakespeare – although his snappy one-liners, such as ‘Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows’, might have used the 😂 to complete the rather pithy insult. [1]
Whether it’s ‘vape’ puffing its way to the top or ‘climate emergency’ slaying the vibe, the choices invariably spark debate, proving that while the Brits may argue about their tea, trains and the weather, they’ll happily divert their attention for a momentary pause of these national pursuits to engage in a polite rumpus about the English dictionary.
Indeed, words are one of our covert national sports.
Two Decades of Annual Linguistic Anticipation
The Oxford Word of the Year initiative began in 2004 as a novel way to celebrate language and its role in reflecting societal trends. What started as a ‘why not’ experiment has since become an eagerly anticipated annual event, drawing attention from linguists, media outlets, and the general public alike.
Oxford’s expert lexicographers meticulously analyse language data and trends during the selection process. They examine emerging words, shifts in the usage of established terms, and the cultural context surrounding language evolution.
This charming tradition kicked off with the illustrious term ‘chav’, which, so it was thought at the time, captured the essence of Britain’s working-class youth with their distinctive fashion choices and delightful personalities.
While characters such as Vicky Pollard in the sketch series Little Britain riffed off the term for comic effect, the Fabian Society asked the BBC to add it to its list of offensive terms.[2]
Since then, the Word of the Year has become a way to celebrate the year’s most culturally significant and often controversial phrases. The Oxford Word of the Year has served as a linguistic time capsule for twenty years, capturing the essence of our collective experiences and cultural shifts and ensuring that the chosen word or expression genuinely encapsulates the mood and preoccupations of the year in question.
| 2004 | chav | 2014 | vape |
| 2005 | sudoku | 2015 | 😂 |
| 2006 | bovvered | 2016 | post-truth |
| 2007 | carbon footprint | 2017 | youthquake |
| 2008 | credit crunch | 2018 | toxic |
| 2009 | simples | 2019 | climate emergency |
| 2010 | big society | 2020 | no single word was chosen |
| 2011 | squeezed middle | 2021 | vax |
| 2012 | omnishambles | 2022 | goblin mode |
| 2013 | selfie | 2023 | rizz |
It is worth noting that 2020 has an entire PDF dedicated to it because, ‘Given the phenomenal breadth of language change and development during 2020, Oxford Languages concluded that this is a year which cannot be neatly accommodated in one single word’. [3]
There are single words for 2020, but they are best left for private contemplations and ponderance.
Social Media’s Linguistic Legacy
The influence of social media on language has been nothing short of profound, or perhaps alarming, depending on how you feel about a world where hashtags and slang dictate linguistic trends. Many Oxford Word of the Year winners and runners-up owe their fame to the great online melting pot, where memes and viral moments are our new Shakespearean sonnets.
Take ‘selfie’, for example. In 2013, its usage skyrocketed by an eye-watering 17,000%, proving that humanity’s greatest achievement that year was perfecting the art of photographing oneself at arm’s length. [4] It is a meteoric rise indeed, and one that truly highlights how quickly language (and, perhaps, vanity) can evolve in the digital age.
More recently, social media has become a breeding ground for all sorts of linguistic gems. The 2022 winner, ‘goblin mode’, captured the collective mood of a post-pandemic world, where giving up on societal expectations and eating crisps in bed was finally seen as an act of rebellion.
- Goblin Mode – ‘a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.’ [5]
Then there’s 2023’s champ, ‘rizz’, a term plucked from gaming and internet culture, now gloriously mainstream, reminding us that even our flirtation skills require a rebrand.
- Rizz – ‘style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner’. [6]
And let’s not forget hashtags, the glue that binds online activism and armchair solidarity. The inclusion of ‘#IStandWith’ in the 2022 shortlist shows how social media doesn’t just shape discourse – it all but steamrolls it. Who needs lofty oratory when you can show support with a hashtag and a retweet?
The 2024 Shortlist: A Reflection of Our Times
The Oxford Word of the Year 2024 shortlist offered a fascinating glimpse into the current zeitgeist, featuring terms that span various aspects of contemporary life and culture.
- ‘Lore’ re-entered the public consciousness, reflecting a renewed interest in storytelling and shared knowledge, particularly in online communities.
- ‘Brain rot’ speaks to concerns about the impact of digital media consumption on cognitive health, a topic of increasing discussion in an era of information overload.
- ‘Dynamic pricing’ gained prominence, particularly in light of high-profile ticketing controversies, highlighting ongoing debates about fair access to goods and services.
- ‘Demure’ saw a resurgence, possibly as a counterpoint to more ostentatious fashion trends, indicating shifting attitudes towards personal presentation.
- ‘Slop’ addressed the proliferation of AI-generated content, reflecting both the potential and pitfalls of artificial intelligence in creative fields.
- ‘Romantasy’ represented the blending of genres in popular fiction, showcasing how literature evolves to meet changing reader preferences.
This diverse shortlist encapsulates a range of contemporary concerns and interests, from economic practices to cultural trends and technological impacts.
Beyond Oxford: Other Word of the Year Selections
You might be wondering why we’ve tumbled headfirst down this linguistic rabbit hole in a January blog while the rest of the world is busy fantasising about sticking to their 2025 resolutions or optimistically planning to reinvent themselves. Well, someone had to provide a distraction from all the self-improvement speak and focus on phonological priorities.
And… we didn’t want to pass the twentieth anniversary of when ‘blog’ wasn’t just shorthand for a rambling online diary but the linguistic darling of the year. Merriam-Webster chose it based on the word’s significant rise in lookups on its online dictionary, reflecting the growing influence of personal weblogs (blogs) in digital culture at the time.
While the Oxford Word of the Year is perhaps the most well-known, other dictionaries and language institutions also conduct their own annual word selections, often with different criteria and focuses.
For instance, Collins English Dictionary has already named ‘brat’ its 2024 word of the year, highlighting different approaches and timelines in these linguistic celebrations.
Language, constantly sprouting new terms, reflects our times and culture, and the annual ‘Word of the Year’ tradition does just that, especially when we look beyond the Oxford accolade to other dictionaries. For example:
2018: Nomophobia (Cambridge Dictionary): Who hasn’t felt a pang of anxiety when their phone battery hits 1%? Cambridge’s pick, nomophobia, perfectly encapsulates this modern-day affliction: the fear of being without your mobile phone. A contender in a year when ‘gender gap’ and ‘ecocide’ also vied for relevance.
2017: Milkshake Duck (Macquarie Dictionary): Macquarie couldn’t resist the internet-born term ‘milkshake duck’: someone who rises to social media fame, only to fall from grace when unsavoury truths are revealed – modern tragedy wrapped in meme culture.
2015: -ism (Merriam-Webster): Breaking tradition, Merriam-Webster crowned the suffix -ism as its Word of the Year. Why? Because socialism, racism, feminism, and terrorism were among the most-searched terms of the year. Proof that sometimes it’s the little things – like suffixes – that shape big conversations.
2012: Phantom Vibration Syndrome (Macquarie Dictionary): Macquarie went deep into mobile-phone anxiety territory with ‘phantom vibration syndrome’: the belief that your phone is vibrating when it’s not. In a tech-obsessed world, it’s a feeling we still understand a decade later.
The list is endless, well, not really, but we’re not actually planning to bore you to tears by proving it. Let’s just say that with a plethora of dictionaries strewing the internet, we could waffle on indefinitely and probably would if we didn’t have some 2025 self-affirmations to engage with before falling off the wagon to eat the last remaining unwanted gold-wrapped toffees from a purple tin.
The Role of Public Voting in 2024’s Selection
Returning to more serious stuff, for the 2024 selection, Oxford University Press introduced a public voting element, allowing people to have a say in choosing the Word of the Year. This democratic approach acknowledges the collective nature of language evolution and engages the public in the selection process.
Voters could choose from the shortlisted candidates, with the results announced on 2 December. This participatory method not only generates excitement and discussion around language but also ensures that the chosen word resonates with a broad audience.
The Oxford Word of the Year 2024
‘Brain Rot’. A choice as delightfully grim as it is entertainingly fitting for our times.
The term, which encapsulates the collective experience of ‘doom-scrolling’ social media, bingeing mindless content, and succumbing to the endless vortex of digital distractions, has officially been crowned by the language connoisseurs at Oxford.
This apt little saying was voted for by over 37,000 individuals. If you want to read more about the 2024 winner, head over to our newsletter.
Final thought…
The Oxford Word of the Year is far more than an annual excuse for lexicographers to pat themselves on the back – it’s a linguistic crystal ball, showing us who we are, what we care about, and occasionally what we’d rather forget. It’s important to view this charming tradition as not just picking a word for the sake of it but to remember that we’re bottling a little piece of cultural chaos for future generations to puzzle over.
Additionally, over the past two decades, this tradition has proved that language isn’t just alive—it’s sprinting through time, picking up shiny new tech terms and social buzzwords, and even dusting off ancient relics to describe today’s peculiarities. Whether it’s a word birthed by Silicon Valley, inspired by social upheaval, or dragged kicking and screaming from obscurity, the Oxford Word of the Year remains a curious, ever-entertaining snapshot of a world that’s always on the move.
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[1] Troilus and Cressida (Act 2, Scene 1)
[3] http://v.fastcdn.co/u/2014a5b7/54382502-0-Words-of-an-Unpreced.pdf
[5] https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2022/#:~:text=Goblin%20mode,
[6] https://corp.oup.com/news/rizz-crowned-oxford-word-of-the-year-2023/#:~:text=Why%20’rizz’%3F,an%20unusual%20word%20formation%20pattern.