There\u2019s a name for that feeling you get after spending too long scrolling aimlessly, and Oxford University Press (OUP) has chosen it as its word for the year for 2024. <\/p>\n
\u201cBrain rot\u201d took the title in a vote in which more than 37,000 people participated, as well as public commentary and analysis of OUP\u2019s language data. <\/p>\n
In a statement released Monday, OUP, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, defined \u201cbrain rot\u201d as \u201cthe supposed deterioration of a person\u2019s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.\u201d <\/p>\n
While the use of \u201cbrain rot\u201d rose 230% this year, it actually first appeared more than a century ago. <\/p>\n
According to OUP, it was first used by author Henry David Thoreau in his book \u201cWalden\u201d as he criticised society\u2019s tendency to devalue complicated ideas in favour of simple ones. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile England endeavours to cure the potato rot,\u201d wrote Thoreau, \u201cwill not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot \u2013 which prevails so much more widely and fatally?\u201d <\/p>\n
All these years later, it seems brain rot is well and truly established. <\/p>\n
The term has gained traction over the past year, however, especially as worries grow about the impact of over-consuming low-quality content online. <\/p>\n
Earlier this year, a behavioral healthcare provider in the United States began offering treatment for brain rot, describing it as a condition of \u201cmental fogginess, lethargy, reduced attention span, and cognitive decline.\u201d <\/p>\n
The healthcare company cited doomscrolling and social media addiction as examples of brain rot behavior, which could be prevented by setting limits on screen time or doing a digital detox. <\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019Brain rot\u2019 speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time,\u201d said Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, in Monday\u2019s announcement. <\/p>\n
\u201cI also find it fascinating that the word \u2018brain rot\u2019 has been adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha\u2026 These communities have amplified the expression through social media channels, the very place said to cause \u2018brain rot,\u2019\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt demonstrates a somewhat cheeky self-awareness in the younger generations about the harmful impact of the social media that they\u2019ve inherited.\u201d <\/p>\n
The word beat out five other shortlisted contenders, which included \u201clore,\u201d meaning a body of (supposed) facts, background information and anecdotes required to fully understand something; \u201cromantasy,\u201d a portmanteau for literature combining elements of romantic fiction and fantasy; and \u201cslop,\u201d which refers to low-quality content generated by artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n
\u201cDemure,\u201d a word that went viral over the summer following a popular TikTok video, was also shortlisted. The word, which means being reserved in appearance or behavior, had already been named word of the year by Dictionary.com last week. <\/p>\n
Last year, Oxford chose \u201crizz\u201d as its word of 2023. Derived from the word charisma, it refers to a person\u2019s ability to attract a romantic partner. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s a name for that feeling you get after spending too long scrolling aimlessly, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}