Oxford Dictionaries has announced that the word of the year for 2024 is 'brain rot', reflecting concerns about the mental impact of excessive social media surfing.
"Brain rot" refers to a state of fatigue caused by the effects of over-stimulation of dopamine when surfing social networks - Photo: REUTERS
AP news agency reported on December 3 that the Oxford Dictionary recently announced that the phrase representing the year 2024 will be brain rot .
With a 230% increase in usage over the previous year, the term is defined by Oxford as “a deterioration in a person's mental or intellectual state, especially as a result of consuming excessive amounts of content (now primarily online) that is trivial or unchallenging.”
"Brain rot" has been named the word of the year for 2024 through a combination of public poll results and linguistic analysis conducted by linguists at Oxford.
The term beat out five other contenders by 37,000 votes, including demure (modest), slop (a sloppy or careless person), dynamic pricing (dynamic pricing), romantasy (a combination of romance and fantasy), and lore (background information about someone).
Most commonly used by Gen Z and Generation Alpha, brain rot refers to a state of fatigue caused by the over-stimulation of dopamine from social media.
“It is these age groups that have driven the popularity of the phrase through social media channels, which is thought to be the cause of brain rot ,” commented Oxford Languages president Casper Grathwohl.
In addition, Mr. Grathwohl said that in a modern context, brain rot reflects the often-mentioned risks of virtual life, related to how people use their free time.
Although considered a modern phrase, brain rot first appeared in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau's Walden .
Previously, Oxford's word of the year 2023 was rizz , a variation of the word charisma , used to describe the ability to attract or charm others.
Meanwhile, Collins Dictionary's word of the year for 2024 is brat - the name of an album - which has become a symbol of the carefree summer lifestyle.
Last month, the Cambridge Dictionary announced the word for 2024 as manifest . The term refers to a mental health trend that encourages visualizing achieving a goal in the hope that it will increase the likelihood of success.
This word has been searched 130,000 times on the Cambridge Dictionary website.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thoi-nao-tro-thanh-tu-noi-bat-cua-nam-2024-20241203111705957.htm
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