Words of the Year

Amoebae/Astrology. Bats/Braids. Cars/Chickens. Divots/Dodge Pickups...

Random word pairs alphabetized from A to Z wait for me on a scrap of paper somewhere among my notebooks. Words as words intrigue me so much that I can spend tons of time making odd lists, ruminating in rhyme, writing poems with rhythm and chasing origins. You don’t?

Instead, you might fiddle in the garage, paint with icing or contemplate the cosmos with equations. Fine by me, but words are the tools to communicate the wonders and sorrows we encounter, with purposes both majestic and utilitarian simultaneously.

So, how in tarnation do terms like “brain rot, brat, enshittification and rizz” make word-of-the-year (woty) lists by our prestigious word gurus? A smiley face emoji even rated a ranking!

Hang on. Maybe we credit AI for such incredulity. It incessantly scours global communications in print, podcast, social media and political platforms. Why? To produce the data used by our alphabet gatekeepers to select the top terms reflecting societal trends, changes and norms.

I want to be star-struck by the choices as I meditate on ways to incorporate them into my own experience. Instead, the wrinkles in my forehead deepen as I stare at the ceiling, though unfortunately not mindlessly. There’s no escaping the dread that sometimes settles on my being as I ponder the curiosities that affect language.

“Demure” (2024 woty - Dictionary.com) seemed to compensate for some word-of-the-year winners, until I tried to decipher its “new” meaning and discovered it came from a TikTok reel. Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews and Phylicia Rashad exemplify to me what I might have mistakenly understood “demure” to mean. I can’t say for sure what it means now. Polite? Maybe someone with “rizz?” (2023 woty - Oxford University Press)

Distinguishing between connotation and definition plays a role. Take “brat.” In my mind, it’s a descriptor for kids, and not one indicating positive behavior. Maybe my brother was one when we were growing up, but it certainly never fit me or MY child. Now it applies to one displaying an independent, confident attitude. WHAT? How did that about-face happen? Should I strive to be one now? (2024 woty - Collins Dictionary)

All this “enshittification” (2023 woty - American Dialect Society) increases my exposure to “brain rot.” (2024 woty - Oxford). Where are the censors and vaccines when you need them? I want to battle this bratty mood that’s quickly overtaking my rizz!

(And AI, you’re slacking. My document tools don’t yet recognize some recent woty winners.)

(For the 12/19/2024 PN)