Oxfords Word of the Year Is Brain Rot

It’s not just you.Oxford University Press, the publisher of the august Oxford English Dictionary, is also going a bit fuzzy between the ears.After digging through its enormous database, it has chosen “brain rot” — specifically, the kind brought on by digital overload — as its 2024 Word of the Year.It’s been quite a journey for “brain rot,” which triumphed over a shortlist of contenders including “lore,” “demure,” “romantasy,” “dynamic pricing” and “slop.” According to Oxford, its earliest known appearance was in 1854, in “Walden,” Henry David Thoreau’s classic account of moving alone to a cabin in the woods.“While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot,” Thoreau lamented, “will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?”The answer, apparently, is no.

These days, according to Oxford, it’s often invoked by young people on social media to describe the “supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state,” particularly stemming from overconsumption of trivial online content.That usage surged by about 230 percent over the past year.Casper Grathwohl, the president of Oxford Languages, the company’s dictionary division, said the term’s rise reflects the breakneck speed of social media-driven language change.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....