Summary
“Brain rot,” describing the mental decline linked to overconsumption of trivial online content, was named Oxford’s 2024 word of the year.
The term reflects growing concerns about the impact of endless social media scrolling, especially among younger generations like Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
Chosen by public vote and expert analysis, it beat finalists like “demure” and “dynamic pricing.”
First used in 1854, “brain rot” resurfaced in 2024 amid debates on humanity’s relationship with technology.
Apparently 2019 was “climate emergency”. So they use phrases as the “word” of the year pretty regularly.
Victorians would totally have written “brain-rot.” They had some weird ideas about punctuation.
I read one 19th century novel where every contraction had two apostrophes: ca’n’t, should’n’t.