In 2003, the publisher of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary initiated an award. On December 9, 2024, it named “polarisation” as its word of the year, adding to a 2024 roster from other dictionaries that features terms like “brat,” “manifest,” “demure,” “brain rot,” and “enshittification.”

The chosen words are determined through various approaches. For instance, this year, the Oxford dictionaries allowed the public to participate in voting for a short list of nominees, with brain rot coming out on top.

Other publishers rely on the expertise of their editors, complemented by metrics such as online search frequency for particular terms.

In response to the notable drop in printed reference book sales, these annual declarations enhance the visibility of the publishers’ products. Their choices also reflect the current cultural environment.

As a cognitive scientist focused on language and communication, I’ve noticed that this year’s selections illustrate the myriad ways digital existence influences the English language and culture.

Hits and Misses

This year is not alone in featuring most winners under a common theme. In 2020, words tied to the pandemic—Covid, lockdown, pandemic, and quarantine—dominated the selections.

Usually, there’s a wider variety, with some choices proving to be more insightful and pertinent than others. For instance, in 2005, the New Oxford American Dictionary labeled “podcast” just before it experienced a surge in popularity.

More often than not, the celebrated neologisms fail to endure.

In 2008, the New Oxford American Dictionary designated hypermiling, defined as driving to maximize fuel efficiency. The term permacrisis, which signifies a prolonged state of emergency, was chosen by Collins Dictionary in 2022.

Neither term is notably utilized in 2024.

Manifesting Brain Rot

I predict that one of this year’s selections—“brat”—will fade into irrelevance.

Right before the 2024 U.S. elections, Collins Dictionary chose brat as its word of the year, defining it as “characterized by a self-assured, independent, and indulgent attitude.”

Interestingly, it also coincided with the title of a popular album launched by Charli XCX in June 2024. In late July, the singer tweeted her support for the Democratic presidential candidate, saying, “kamala IS brat.”

However, following Harris’s defeat, the appeal of brat has diminished.

Other 2024 words of the year have similarly gained from social media trends.

In late November, the Cambridge Dictionary named manifest as its word of the year, describing it as “to utilize visualization and affirmation techniques to imagine achieving a desired outcome.”

The term rose to prominence when singer Dua Lipa referenced it in an interview, seemingly drawing inspiration from TikTok self-help discussions.

Another term that gained popularity through social media is “demure,” which Dictionary.com selected in late November. While the word dates back to the 15th century, it surged in relevance due to a TikTok video featuring Jools Lebron from early August, where she described appropriate workplace behavior as “very demure, very mindful.”

The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English chose “enshittification” as its word in early December. Coined by Canadian-British author Cory Doctorow in 2022, it pertains to the gradual degradation of a service or platform’s effectiveness or usability—an experience familiar to users of Google, TikTok, X, and dating apps.

The Oxford dictionary’s selection for 2024—“brain rot”—highlights the numbing effects of excessive social media use.

The dictionary defines its word of the year as “a perceived decline in one’s cognitive or intellectual capacities, especially due to overindulgence in content (notably trivial or unchallenging online material).”

However, the concept of brain rot is not novel. In the concluding passage of “Walden,” Henry David Thoreau expressed concern about the prevalence of “brain rot” being “widespread and fatal.”

Digital Knives Out

Merriam-Webster named “polarisation” as its Word of the Year, defining it as “the division into two sharply distinct opposites; particularly, a condition in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society are no longer distributed along a continuum but instead concentrate at opposing extremes.”

In the U.S., political polarization arises from various factors, including gerrymandering and in-group biases.

Nonetheless, social media undeniably plays a crucial role. A 2021 report from the Brookings Institution illuminated “the link between tech platforms and the extreme polarization that can compromise democratic principles and provoke partisan violence.” Journalist Max Fisher has detailed how algorithms employed by these social media platforms “propel users toward outrage,” a claim substantiated by experimental studies on the topic.

Despite the polarization that permeates political and social spheres, dictionaries have at least reached an agreement: The tech giants are shaping our lives and language, for better or worse.

Roger J Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.