Q&A: 2024 Words of the Year

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, the words that defined us.

Q: Hi AWC, can you believe that 2024 is coming to an end?

A: It sure looks that way.

Q: So are you ready for our annual discussion about the so-called ‘words of the year’ that have been announced in recent weeks?

A: We sure are. Where would you like to begin?

Q: How about America’s Merriam-Webster?

A: Certainly. And perhaps we should finally call them the Divided States of America, as their word this year was “Polarisation”. 

Q: Don’t you mean “polarization”?

A: Well yes, in America they use the Z, but we’re not going to. “Polarisation” is a form of division where people tend toward the extremes rather than toward the centre. This was most obviously seen during the US presidential election, but increasing across other things like technology or celebrities. In fact, Merriam-Webster says the only thing people aren’t polarised on is that “polarisation” is the word to sum it all up!

Q: Well, apart from the spelling.

A: Yes, that is a little polarising.

Q: Did they have other shortlisted words?

A: They had many. These included “weird” – again due to discourse during the election, and even a word “totality” – related to the solar eclipse in America earlier in 2024.

Q: I wonder if “totalitarianism” will feature next year?

A: Hmmmm, we’ll see!

Q: Okay, let’s cross the pond and find out about Oxford Dictionaries?

A: Their word of the year was “brain rot”.

Q: Wow, it just keeps getting better doesn’t it?

A: Hmmm yeah. This term captured concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media.

Q: This might be a great time to remind readers that we have an archive of more than 500 Q&A discussions over the past 10 years that you can browse over the holidays – you can find them all right here!

A: Haha, nice. And it would seem that many people spent 2024 rotting their brains on Tik Tok, because a viral video in August on that platform gave us Dictionary.com’s word of the year – “demure”.

Q: Ah yes, I remember this – “so mindful, so demure”.

A: That’s right. On Tik Tok, there were countless videos with these words applied to everything from fashion choices and cute cats, to decor trends and even hangover cures. Some considered it a counter to another hedonistic word made popular by British singer Charli XCX – “brat”.

Q: Oh right – as in “brat summer”!

A: Yes. In fact, it was so big that Collins Dictionary named “brat” THEIR word of the year. They defined it as an informal adjective characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude. Other shortlisted words included “era” – no doubt influenced by that other big singer of the year, Taylor Swift. And “rawdogging”.

Q: Wait, what?

A: Not in the original sexual context (look it up), but specifically with regard to long haul flights. Young people bragged about “rawdogging” the journey – which involved simply sitting there with no electronic entertainment, devices or reading material.

Q: People are weird.

A: If you want something weird, check out The Economist’s word of the year – “kakistocracy”. In short, it means “the rule of the worst”.

Q: And the longer version?

A: “A government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens.”

Q: Haha, okay, that’s pretty funny. One way to make your editorial opinion known I guess. 

A: Indeed.

Q: Brains rotting, nations polarised and run by morons, plus zombies on planes. Sheesh. Are there any positive words this year?

A: Cambridge Dictionary came to the rescue with their word of 2024: “manifest”.

Q: Wait. Isn’t that the Netflix show about the plane that disappears for five years?

A: Well, yes. A manifest can indeed be a list of passengers on a ship or plane. But here we’re talking about the verb – “to manifest something” such as a gold medal at the Olympics. Cambridge elaborate on the definition by saying it is “to use methods such as visualisation and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want.”

Q: How old is this word?

A: Really old – since the 1300s. Initially as an adjective to describe something plain, clear or evident – also giving us the noun “manifesto” in the 1600s for a public declaration of so-called “obvious facts”. Then a few centuries later, it was famously invoked by the Americans during their so-called ‘Manifest Destiny’ push to colonise the West of their continent during the 1800s.

Q: I wonder if they had mood boards in the Old West?

A: Not likely. In fact, it has only been in the last five years or so that the idea of “manifesting” something has become a big thing of its own.

Q: I really hope the old word manifested making it to the top of the charts!

A: Another shortlisted word from Cambridge was “romantasy” – a book genre combining romance and fantasy that has been around for about a decade or so, but blew up this year in the mainstream, again thanks to TikTok.

Q: For something so brain rotting, it sure is giving us a lot of new words.

A: Indeed.

Q: Okay, how about Australia’s own Macquarie Dictionary? They must have a nice word, right?

A: Ummmm.

Q: You’re kidding me.

A: Sorry. In fact, this might be the worst one of all for the crop of 2024 words. 

Q: Come on now. Just how bad can it be?

A: “Enshittification”

Q: Excuse me??

A: No need to repeat it. This is the Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year – and not only that, it’s only the third time in almost 20 years that the People’s Choice pick has matched the official Committee pick.

Q: Wow, so we’re all agreed on how bad things are? Hurrah.

A: This word simply means the “deterioration of a product or service” – with many feeling that it captured many aspects of our lives right now.

Q: What a time to be alive.

A: Runners up included “brain rot” and “rawdogging” once more, as well as “social battery” – the energy people have for social interactions, and “skibidi” – a nonsense word that kids use to mean a bunch of things, but often ‘cool or excellent’. 

Q: I’m way too old to use that one.

A: Agreed. And finally, down the road at ANU’s Australian National Dictionary Centre, they named their word for 2024 as “Colesworth” – a derogatory nickname that reflects the perceived duopoly of our two biggest supermarkets and disgruntlement at the increased cost of groceries.

Q: How appropriate, because I’d like to check out now!

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