Oxford Word of the Year 'Brain rot'...Intellectual degeneration due to low information flood

Source: Yonhap News

The British daily Guardian reported on the 1st that "brain rot" has been selected as the Oxford dictionary's "word of the year."

This word means that human mental and intellectual state degenerates as a result of overconsumption of trivial or insignificant material.

Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, one of the major dictionaries in the Anglo-American world, announced the Word of the Year on the 1st.

At the same time, he explained that these results reflect the state of being overflowing with minor information that degenerates mental and intellectual conditions online, such as social media.

Oxford University Press introduced the word as "used to express concerns about the impact of low online content, especially overconsumption of social media," and called it "newly prominent in 2024.

Although the word has recently become noticeable, it was first recorded in the literature in 1854 in the masterpiece Walden by American ecologist Henry David Sorrow, the Guardian said.

"Brain rot is a word related to a perceived risk to the virtual world, how we use our leisure time," said Casper Graswall, president of Oxford Language, which publishes Oxford Dictionaries. "It would be a timely topic to address in a cultural conversation about humans and technology."

"It is also interesting to note that this word is used by Generation Z (15-29 years old) and Alpha (under 14 years old), who are largely responsible for the use and creation of digital content," he added.

A total of six vocabularies, including "demure," which translates to gentle, neat, etc., "dynamic pricing," which means adjusting the price of a product or service in real time, and "romantasy," a literary genre that combines love novels and fantasy novels, were selected by four experts, including linguists.

Oxford University Press selected the final result after a public vote of 37,000 people, public discussion and analysis.

Last year, "rizz," derived from charisma and popular among young people, was chosen by Oxford Dictionaries, in 2022, "Goblin mode," a new term for "a brazen attitude to reject social norms," and "vax," which means vaccination, in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Cambridge Dictionary selected "manifest" as its 2024 word, which means imagining what you want to actually happen.

In the wake of British pop star Charlie XCX's album, Dictionary.com named "demure," widely used to mock stereotypes about women on TikTok, and Collins Dictionary picked "brat," which has been expanded among young people, as the word of the year.