“Brain rot” is not a word that you would not expect the accredited and prestigious University of Oxford to officially acknowledge. The Oxford University Press recently announced its official Word of the Year for 2024: “brain rot.” It was quite the surprise when the highly-anticipated word of the year was first announced.
It is true that this word has been prevalent in the vocabulary of billions of people throughout this year; however, it is truly hard to believe that an institution built on professionalism would choose such an unserious word. There are many mixed feelings about the choice of “brain rot” as the 2024 word of the year. Some people are happy to see that the Oxford University Press is resonating with younger generations while others are not too happy with their choice.
For those unfamiliar with the term, “brain rot” is used to describe a person’s deteriorating mental state as a result of media consumption. This word has also been used increasingly to describe the online trends that plague the social media feeds of many young people. After extensive language analysis research and public vote, this word was chosen amongst five other finalists: demure, lore, romantasy, dynamic, and slop.
Moses Moreno, a junior at Mark Keppel High School says that “the word ‘brain rot’ captures the mood of 2024 pretty well as the term was a big trend this year, especially amongst the younger generation.” This is certainly true considering that this word has been used increasingly to describe the media that we see online on a daily basis. Online trends involving the terms “skibidi toilet” and “sigma” are some of the hundreds of “brain rot” trends that have completely taken over social media.
Isyss Pineda, a junior at Mark Keppel High School, says “I definitely wasn’t expecting ‘brain rot’ to be the word of the year. It really does make sense though because I feel like it was a topic that consumed a lot of people.” Even though she thinks that “brain rot” was relevant this year, she also thinks, “The fact that ‘brain rot’ is the word of the year is a little concerning because it shows how much we have let the media impact our lives.”
The Oxford University Press’s decision came with backlash yet still garnered support from young people. This word has played a huge role in the lives of many youth by bringing joy and laughter to their daily lives. Many are excited to see what the Oxford Word of the Year will be in 2025 after this unforeseen and spontaneous decision. Even though this word did not resonate with older generations, the votes and conversations surrounding the Oxford Word of the Year pointed towards ‘brain rot’ as the top choice for 2024.
