Do you know what’s list of modern buzzwords this year?

Over 37,000 people voted on a shortlist of six words, with “brain rot” emerging as the winner.

Hyderabad: Oxford University Press (OUP) has chosen ‘brain rot’ as its Word of the Year for 2024. This term describes the decline in mental sharpness caused by excessive consumption of low-quality online content, especially on social media. According to OUP, the phrase gained popularity this year as concerns grew over the impact of mindless scrolling and trivial digital content.

Over 37,000 people voted on a shortlist of six words, with “brain rot” emerging as the winner.

---

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said, “Brain rot speaks to the dangers of virtual life and how we are spending our free time. It is not surprising that Gen Z and Gen Alpha, creators and consumers of digital content, have adopted this term.”

The concept, however, isn’t new. It was first mentioned in Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book Walden.

The shortlist also included:

• Demure: Referring to reserved or responsible behavior, popularized by a summer TikTok trend.
• Dynamic pricing: Variable pricing based on demand.
• Lore: Background facts about a person or thing.
• Romantasy: A genre blending romance and fantasy.
• Slop: AI-generated low-quality online content.

In previous years, winners included “rizz” (2023), “goblin mode” (2022), and “vax” (2021).

Other dictionaries also revealed their Words of the Year.

Cambridge Dictionary picked ‘manifest’, tied to the wellness trend of visualizing goals.

Dictionary.com chose ‘demure’, and Collins Dictionary highlighted ‘brat’, inspired by Charli XCX’s hit album.

The choice of “brain rot” reflects increasing concerns about the influence of digital content on mental health and how people engage with technology today.