Every year, the United Kingdom's Oxford University Press names a winner for the most relevant words of the year, and for 2024, the top-voted and most popular among them all is "Brain Rot." It is a renowned Gen Z term that many users characterize to be one of the top ways to consume online content in the present, particularly on TikTok videos and other non-important posts from the internet.
Over the past years, many of the colloquial words used primarily by the Gen Z and Generation Alpha communities are being recognized for their cultural significance in the English language.
Gen Z, Gen Alpha's "Brain Rot" Wins Oxford Word of the Year
The Oxford University Press announced this year's wrap-up of the top-used words and phrases of 2024, and the winner of a recent public discussion by the academe is the renowned saying of "brain rot." This was one of the top recognized words when Oxford rounded up its list for people to vote on, with the term "brain rot" being coined as early as 1854 by Henry David Thoreau in his book "Walden."
However, it is not exactly the same context and definition as Thoreau used in his book as the current generations, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, gave it an entirely new meaning, according to Oxford.
It was revealed that between 2023 and 2024, the term "brain rot" saw a surge in its usage by as much as 230 percent, and is the top-voted word from over 37,000 participants who joined in the discussion.
'Brain Rot' Significance on TikTok, Social Media
What it means to "brain rot," as per Oxford, is a "deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state" due to their "overconsumption of material" from online platforms, particularly social media. TikTok's algorithm is known for offering a collection of content based on one's online activity, with many creators also sharing 'brain rot' content which gained significant popularity, hence its massive consumption.
However, Oxford exclaimed that the term 'brain rot' is not yet widely used by the global audience which is why it is not yet added to its dictionary.
The Massive Shift of This Generation's Words
There are many defining qualities of each generation but the most recent show more of what the current generation focuses on, especially as words like "rizz," "sigma," "skibidi," and more are topping the charts. Last year, among the list of top words of the year from different institutions from the academe, determined how AI influenced the world, with words like "prompt," "hallucinate," and "authentic" leading the charge.
Since the last decade's most dominant generation, Gen Z was among the top online demographics, many words from this cohort centered on many online trends and famous activities. Oxford revealed that in 2014, "Selfie" was the Word of the Year which took the spotlight from the supposed winner, "twerk," which was reportedly popularized during this time by Miley Cyrus.
One of the most noticeable things of this generation, especially those who are tech-savvy and more inclined towards social media consumption is how they cleverly create new words that later become generally accepted. "Brain rot" is not exactly a new word separately, but combining the two creates an entirely new definition for this generation, fitting of its Word of the Year accolade, but not exactly that widely used for it to be included in Oxford's dictionary.
