Language experts at the University of Oxford determined that brain rot became the most popular term of 2024. The frequency of its use increased by 230% in a year.
This is reported by the publishing house of the educational institution.
The Oxford University linguists shortlisted six words that characterize the main trends of this year. Then there was a two-week public vote, in which more than 37 thousand people participated. This year they chose brain rot as the key term.
Frequency of use of the term brain rot in 2024
Oxford University Press
This phrase expresses concern about the effects of consuming too much low-quality content online, especially on social media. In dictionaries, brain rot is described as an alleged deterioration of a personʼs mental or intellectual state, in particular, as a result of excessive consumption of primitive content.
The first use of the term was recorded long before the creation of the Internet. It was described by the writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau in his book "Walden" in 1854.
"While England is trying to cure potato rot, will not someone try to cure brain rot, which is much more widespread and more fatal?" — asked the author in his work.
This is how Henry David Thoreau criticized societyʼs desire to devalue and simplify complex concepts. The writer believed that this is one of the reasons for the decline of the intellectual efforts of mankind.
- The Collins British dictionary named the word of the year 2024 as вrat. It combines many things in itself: hedonism, bright aesthetics and even the slogan of the campaign of the candidate for the US presidency from the Democrats Kamala Harris (Kamala IS Brat).
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