Thursday, January 23, 2025

Words and Terms that Told the Story of 2024


While many marketing and news commentators (including this blogger) have talked about the people, food, brands, films, books, color, and notable deaths that made news during 2024, let's not forget the memorable words and terms that told the story of 2024.

MERRIAM-WEBSTER

According to Merriam-Webster's website, "Merriam-Webster's 2024 Word of the Year is polarization, which happens to be one idea that both sides of the political spectrum agree on. Search volume on Merriam-Webster.com throughout the year reflected the desire of Americans to better understand the complex state of affairs in our country and around the world.

We define polarization as "division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes."

MSNBC observed that, "The 2024 presidential election has left our country more polarized than ever.” The word was also used to describe divides beyond the U.S. election, as when Forbes warned that in workplaces, "cultural polarization is becoming a pressing challenge."

DICTIONARY.COM

According to Dictionary.com's website, "Each year, Dictionary.com's Word of the Year and short-listed nominees capture pivotal moments in language and culture. These words serve as a linguistic time capsule, reflecting social trends and global events that defined the year. The Word of the Year isn't just about popular usage; it reveals the stories we tell about ourselves and how we've changed over the year. And for these reasons, Dictionary.com’s 2024 Word of the Year is "demure."

To select the 2024 Word of the Year, our lexicographers analyzed a large amount of data including newsworthy headlines, trends on social media, search engine results, and more to identify words that made an impact on our conversations, online and in the real world.

The word demure experienced a meteoric rise in usage in 2024. Between January and the end of August, this term saw a nearly 1200 percent increase in usage in digital web media alone. This sharp rise is mainly attributed to TikToker Jools Lebron's popularization of the phrase "very demure, very mindful" in a series of videos posted to the platform in early August.

Though the term demure has traditionally been used to describe those who are reserved, quiet, or modest, a new usage has spread through social media — one used to describe refined and sophisticated appearance or behavior in various contexts, such as at work or on a plane. This increased focus on public appearance and behavior comes at a time when employees are increasingly returning to offices after hybrid remote work following the pandemic."

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

According to Oxford University Press' website, "Following a public vote in which more than 37,000 people had their say, we're pleased to announce that the Oxford Word of the Year for 2024 is 'brain rot.' Our language experts created a shortlist of six words to reflect the moods and conversations that have helped shape the past year. After two weeks of public voting and widespread conversation, our experts came together to consider the public's input, voting results, and our language data, before declaring brain rot as the definitive Word of the Year for 2024. Our experts noticed that brain rot gained new prominence this year as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media. The term increased in usage frequency by 230 percent between 2023 and 2024.

Brain rot is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.

The first recorded use of brain rot was found in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau's book Walden, which reports his experiences of living a simple lifestyle in the natural world. As part of his conclusions, Thoreau criticizes society's tendency to devalue complex ideas, or those that can be interpreted in multiple ways, in favor of simple ones, and sees this as indicative of a general decline in mental and intellectual effort."

CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY

The Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year for 2024 was "manifest," which means to use methods like visualization and affirmation to imagine achieving something you want. The word was chosen in part because of the controversial global trend of manifesting. It was looked up almost 130,000 times on the Cambridge Dictionary website, making it one of the most-viewed words of 2024. According to Cambridge Dictionary's website, "The word jumped from use in the self-help community and on social media to being widely used across mainstream media and beyond, as celebrities such as singer Dua Lipa, Olympic sprinter Gabby Thomas, and England striker Ollie Watkins spoke of manifesting their success in 2024. Mentions of it gained traction during the pandemic and have grown in the years since, especially on TikTok and other social media, where millions of posts and videos used the hashtag #manifest."

COLLINS DICTIONARY

Collins Dictionary has named "brat" as its 2024 word of the year for 2024, defining it as someone "characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude." The dictionary credited British singer Charli XCX with making "brat" one of the most talked-about words in 2024. According to CNN Style, "Accompanied by a virulent shade of lime green, the sights and sounds of brat were everywhere to be found this year – including in US Vice President Kamala Harris' election campaign. In July, Charli XCX gave Harris her seal of approval, proclaiming on X: "kamala IS brat." Memes and t-shirts with Harris' name in the "brat" style followed."

THE ECONOMIST

In a striking commentary on global political trends, The Economist has declared "kakistocracy" as its Word of the Year for 2024. Defined as "government by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens," the term has gained significant traction in public discourse, reflecting widespread dissatisfaction with governance across various nations. The word has seen a resurgence in popular use, particularly on social media platforms, where hashtags such as #Kakistocracy and #LeadershipCrisis have trended during major political upheavals. The rise of kakistocracy in the global lexicon also reflects a deeper introspection among voters, who are increasingly vocal about the need for accountability, integrity, and meritocracy in public office.

MOST SEARCHED TERMS ON GOOGLE

According to the tech giant's annual list of top trending searches, the number one search term overall in the United States during 2024 was "election," followed by "Donald Trump," "Connections," "New York Yankees," and "Kamala Harris."

GLASSDOOR

According to HR Dive, "The 2024 word of the year is "divisive," according to Glassdoor's 2024 Best and Worst of Worklife wrap-up. In Glassdoor communities, mentions of the word "divisive" grew 33 percent during 2024, which the organization said was related to a range of issues, including election concerns, toxic workplaces, and shifts in company stances on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives."

GLICKED ENTERS THE LEXICON

While two summer blockbusters from 2023 created a new portmanteau (a word formed by combining the sounds and meanings of other words), "Barbenheimer" derived from BARBIE THE MOVIE and OPPENHEIMER, 2024's pre-Thanksgiving weekend saw the arrival of "Glicked" to promote WICKED and GLADIATOR II. According to CNN, "A lesson learned is that two very high-profile movies can go head-to-head, and both can thrive in the theatrical marketplace."

According to Yahoo Entertainment, "Celebrate "Glicked" by watching both movies either as a double feature or over the course of a weekend and dress the part donning something earthy and Romanesque for Gladiator II and either Galinda pink or Elphaba green for Wicked."

CALIFORNIA REMOVES THE WORD "SQUAW"

The state of California is removing the word "squaw," a derogatory term for indigenous women, from dozens of place names across 15 counties. According to CNN, "For decades, the names of more than 100 of the state's parks, buildings, streets, bridges, and other geographic features and locations have included the term, which is considered racist and offensive toward Native American women, according to a bill signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022. The updated place names were expected to go in effect by January 1, 2025. The upcoming changes are part of nationwide efforts to examine and replace derogatory terms on geographic features." 

SWIFT-ONOMICS

Two terms have appeared as a result of Taylor Swift's international fame: "Visitor Economy" and "Economic Fairy Dust" = the impact on local economies where she performs because visitors flock to each location's airports, hotels, restaurants, and more - and Swift dusts the cities with an economic boom.

KAMALA-MEMTUM

During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, upbeat Democrats rode a wave of "Kamalamemtum," or Kamala momentum.

NOVID

It may be nearly five years since the Corona Virus or Covid pandemic changed everyone's lives, but NOVID has become the term to stand for NEVER HAD COVID.

ADDITIONS TO MERRIAM-WEBSTER

During October, Merriam-Webster announced the addition of 200 new words and definitions. Some of the additions include: beach read, true crime, heat index, For You Page, nepo baby, far right, far left, and MAGA. According to Peter Sokolowski, Editor at Large for Merriam-Webster, "Our lexicographers monitor a huge range of sources to select which words and definitions to add. From academic journals to social media, these give us a very thorough view of the English language." And according to Gregory Barlow, President of Merriam-Webster, "The one constant of a vibrant living language is change. We continuously encounter new ways of describing the world around us, and the dictionary is a record of those changes."

During 2024, leadership expert Kevin Eikenberry wrote that five buzzwords lost their meaning. These buzzwords were synergy, alignment, leverage, collaboration, and culture. Eikenberry explained that, "when they become overused buzzwords, the cynicism in our minds mutes the power of the message." His suggestions for using these words to communicate effectively were: use them less often, choose synonyms, and define them again. He wrote, "Buzzwords exist and are a part of life. How we use them (or not) as a leader and communicator is entirely up to us. Choose how you use them wisely and your communication success will improve."

And, lastly, since this past year on December 25th, Christmas and Hannukah took place on the same day (for the fourth time since 1900), a new term appeared: Chrismukkah as a pop-culture portmanteau referring to the merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas and Judaism's Hanukkah.

As the famous writer Joseph Conrad wrote, "My task which I am trying to achieve is by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel - it is, before all, to make you see. That — and no more, and it is everything."

What words and terms will define 2025? We'll have to wait and see - but in the interim, join me on October 16th, 2025, to celebrate National Dictionary Day, which is celebrated on the birthday of Noah Webster. Browse through your dictionary in your free time and learn new words.


Image Credit: KHQ.


Curious as to which are the most misspelled words by State?

https://www.rd.com/article/most-misspelled-words/


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