"Brain Rot" Named Oxford's 2024 Word of the Year
Oxford University Press (OUP) has announced "brain rot" as its Word of the Year for 2024, a term that reflects growing concerns about the impact of low-quality online content on mental and intellectual well-being. Chosen through a combination of public votes, global discussion, and expert analysis, the phrase highlights the challenges of navigating the digital age.
What does “brain rot” mean?
Defined as the "supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state" due to overconsumption of trivial or unchallenging material, "brain rot" has seen a sharp rise in usage, increasing by 230% between 2023 and 2024. It’s widely used to critique social media and its effects, particularly by younger generations like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who have popularized it on platforms like TikTok. The hashtag #brainrot has been used over half a million times, and is often paired with absurd or nonsensical content.
Interestingly, the term predates the internet by centuries. It was first recorded in Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book Walden, where he criticized society’s shift away from intellectual rigor. Thoreau wrote, “While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally?”
Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, noted the phrase’s relevance, saying, “'Brain rot' speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time... It demonstrates a cheeky self-awareness in younger generations about the very platforms said to cause it.”
While some worry about the effects of excessive screen time, experts like psychologist Andrew Przybylski argue there’s no scientific evidence that "brain rot" is a real condition. Instead, it encapsulates collective anxieties about social media. However, some behavioral healthcare providers in the U.S. have started offering treatments for symptoms like mental fogginess and reduced attention span, often linked to doom scrolling and screen addiction.
"Brain rot" edged out five other contenders on OUP's shortlist:
- Demure (adj.): Of a person: reserved or restrained in appearance or behaviour. Of clothing: not showy, ostentatious, or overly revealing
- Dynamic pricing (n.): The practice of varying the price for a product or service to reflect changing market conditions; in particular, the charging of a higher price at a time of greater demand
- Lore (n.): A body of (supposed) facts, background information, and anecdotes relating to someone or something, regarded as knowledge required for full understanding or informed discussion of the subject in question
- Romantasy (n.): A genre of fiction combining elements of romantic fiction and fantasy, typically featuring themes of magic, the supernatural, or adventure alongside a central romantic storyline
- Slop (n.): Art, writing, or other content generated using artificial intelligence, shared and distributed online in an indiscriminate or intrusive way, and characterized as being of low quality, inauthentic, or inaccurate
The recognition of "brain rot" follows last year’s word, "rizz," which celebrated charisma in romantic pursuits. As Grathwohl remarked, the evolving nature of these words highlights how much internet culture shapes modern language and our collective concerns.
