2024’s Words of the Year
and what they say about us
Welcome to the latest edition of The Gen Zer. This week we’re taking a linguistic detour through the various candidates for the Word of the Year — and what they say about Gen Z’s influence on modern culture. We also discuss podcasts, office parties, and more . . .
Every November and December, the Words of the Year offer a rather unique look back at what’s shaped the last twelve months. This year, the shortlisted words offer a very Gen Z glimpse into what’s occurred in 2024, a year where the incredibly serious has appeared side-by-side with the incredibly absurd.
The Cambridge Dictionary selected ‘manifest’ as their Word of the Year after it gained traction on social media and was looked up almost 130,000 times on their website. For Gen Z, to manifest something is to will it into being — whether that’s a relationship, a new job, or some other goal. Although we’re far from the most religious generation, we are a spiritual one, with many Zers picking up interest in astrology and spirituality in recent years. The word was further popularised by the likes of Dua Lipa and Simone Biles both talking about this year on social media.
For Collins Dictionary, the Word of the Year was, perhaps predictably, brat. The word was first recorded around 1500, but this year Charli XCX’s album — brat — inspired a whole range of social media and marketing content. Honestly, you probably don’t need me to tell you about it. The bright green brat summer vibes have been pretty much everywhere, from the US election to every single subject line I received over the summer.
Oxford University Press also recently announced their shortlist — 6 words or phrases that the public can vote upon, with the winner being announced on the 2nd December. Like ‘brat’ or ‘manifest’, these words all have a rather Gen Z flavour. Let’s go through them:
❤️🔥 Romantasy
I wrote all about the boom in romantasy back in August, discussing how romance and the romantasy genre (a mixture of romance and fantasy) have been exploding in popularity amongst Gen Z and everyone else. It’s interesting that the word is now being considered as one of Oxford’s Words of the Year — pointing to a growing desire for escapism, as people look to distract themselves with something cosy and magical amid all the chaos out in the world.
💅 Demure
TikTok creator Jools Lebron popularised the word back in August with a series of videos showing how to, for instance, board a plane in a very demure way. The phrase ‘very mindful, very demure’ was soon absolutely everywhere, with brands jumping in on the term and pumping it into as much marketing material as possible, and TikTok creators playing on the theme with their own videos.
In some ways, having ‘demure’ as the Word of the Year would say less about the conversation around appearing mindful, and more about how social media trends can pop up out of nowhere and completely dominate online conversation for months. It’s the kind of viral trend you wouldn’t have seen a few decades ago, but for the young generations there’s a new micro-trend almost daily.
🧠 Brain rot
The first recorded use of the phrase actually comes from Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, where the writer complained that modern society (i.e. US society in 1854) considered it an offence if someone’s writing was complex and open to interpretation, and that ‘brain-rot’ and intellectual dumbing down were hence becoming prevalent.
Today, brain rot means something pretty similar: the deterioration of someone’s mental and intellectual faculties after consuming too much trivial, unchallenging and mindless content. It’s often used in a not-so-serious, jokey context — just like ‘TikTok brain’ — although beneath this there are worries that the decline in long-form reading and critical analysis is having an effect on how we relate to each other. Online, people often miss the fact that there are multiple interpretations and perspectives on something; instead, we just read the headline (or watch the TikTok) and make an instant emotional judgement.
Interestingly, Walden is often seen as a recourse to these kind of problems. The book follows Thoreau recounting how, in the 1800s, he went away from society to “live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life” and not, when he came to die, discover that he had not lived. “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life,” as he puts it, and nowadays there are growing movements — soft life, quiet living, cottagecore, etc etc — that echo this, more than 150 years later.
In the context of the Word of the Year, ‘brain rot’ is just another way of saying that there’s a growing feeling of mental burnout, as people turn to TikToks and Instagram Reels to pass the time and consume endless content.
📜 Lore
Traditionally, lore referred to ‘the body of traditional facts, anecdotes, or beliefs’ relating to some particular subject. Now, however, Gen Z has heavily merged the term with celebrity culture. Fandoms are quick to hop online and post about the latest bits of ‘lore’ — the story behind an album, the secret puzzle Taylor Swift left in that song, the hidden relationship that inspired x, y and z.
It’s similar to the growing conversations around parasocial relationships. Thanks to social media, fans feel closer to their idols than ever — perhaps seeing them every day, going on their holidays with them, hearing all their thoughts and views. Some even go so far as to call celebrity culture the replacement for religion for the young and secular; if so, then lore is a pretty fitting suggestion for WOTY.
🤖 Slop
Another slightly surprising entry, the word has been gaining popularity this year in regards to worries about low quality, AI-generated content. As an ever greater number of bots take over social media, and everything from LinkedIn posts to tube ads get written by ChatGPT, people are worried that the online world is increasingly just full of . . . slop, something edible but unsatisfying.
The presence of the word here is also down to growing concerns over misinformation. Gen Z are the generation most likely to get their news from social media, and conversations around AI slop often go hand in hand with conversations around truth and trust.
💸 Dynamic pricing
On one hand, ‘dynamic pricing’ is perhaps less Gen Z, but on the other it’s all too reminiscent of the cost of living crisis that’s come to define Gen Z’s early adulthood. 2024 has seen a spike in the practice of setting prices in real-time based on current demand, meaning that tickets or even pints can suddenly spike to eye-watering sums. Needless to say, people aren’t too happy about it. Especially when it comes to Taylor Swift tickets.
See also:
Gen Z around the Web
the latest stories in youth culture and changing trends . . .
Social media exodus may make us all calmer (the times)
In last week’s newsletter (It really is that damn phone) I wrote about the social media ban for under-16s that the UK government is considering, as well as about phone use more widely. James Marriott in The Times makes a convincing case for why some of the changes we’re seeing in the social media space — people fleeing Twitter/X for Bluesky, for instance — isn’t actually such a bad thing. Rather than sharing a corner of the internet with those we’re most politically opposed to, perhaps it’s healthier to be exposed to a more moderate space that’s not going to be leaving us constantly angry. Read more
“Podcasts are the most important form of media right now” (on my mind as of late)
A thought piece by zoya arguing that podcasts have steadily become one of the most influential forms of media that we currently have. As traditional media struggles to find a way to reach young people, the more relaxed medium offers a different way of discovering people and ideas. In the later stages of his Presidential campaign Trump was quick to jump on this, appearing on a number of podcasts highly popular amongst young men, who as a demographic are traditionally more likely to vote Democrat rather than Republican. Read more
Why Gen Z workers love the office holiday party (inc)
When it comes to Gen Z and office culture, things are often the opposite of what we might expect. I’ve written before about how Generation Z are actually the generation most in favour of spending time in the office (they have the most to gain in terms of sociability and career experience, whereas older generations are more focused on their families and are more settled in how they work), and this article explores how Gen Z are “champions” of traditional office culture, from annual holiday parties to after-work drinks. Read more
Gen Z are turning the sandwiches woke (daily mail)
You think you’ve seen it all, and then suddenly there are a dozen articles about how Gen Z are now ruining . . . sandwiches. Apparently, as a generation we’re less of a fan of pairing ham and mustard together, instead opting for ‘woke’ fillings like avocado or olives. Thankfully the Daily Mail and a number of other papers have been bravely putting up the good fight in the name of decency and British Bacon. The shock and horror doesn’t cease:
Gen Z are almost as likely to include continental cheese (48%) as they are English cheddar in their sandwich. This compares with just over a quarter (27%) of baby boomers.
Apologies to all those affected. Read more
That’s all for this week! Make sure to subscribe for the latest on Gen Z and youth culture, and check out The Common Thred for a weekly roundup of the latest news, trends and thought pieces.
See ya soon,
Is it possible to have experienced all of these at once? :)