Sholeh: Brain rot: 2024’s WOTY

When it first came up, the term “information superhighway” seemed so exciting. 

New worlds opened, connecting us with one another and offering near-unlimited access to unlimited information. 

More information is a good thing, right? From open universities to transparent government and broader citizen access, more should only make us smarter.

 And yet … we’re not. 

Worse, test scores and literacy levels are declining. Bombarded by ads, targeted marketing, dubious websites, voluminous and uninformed opinions, and manipulated social media feeds, we’ve lost quality in favor of overwhelming quantity. 

The average person is addicted to devices and feels exhausted, depressed and uncertain.

 As if our brains are rotting.

“Brain rot” is Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year. Defined as the “supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as a result of overconsumption of (particularly online) material considered to be trivial or unchallenging,” brain rot saw a 230% increase in lookups in 2024.

Each year, major dictionaries choose one or more words (or terms) of the year which represent American cultural focus over the past 12 months. 

At first, these WOTYs were gleaned from frequency in news headlines. More recently, while headlines are still part of it, the focus is how often words are searched online.

While each dictionary chooses its own, they tend to fit a theme. Even if you aren’t a word nerd, WOTYs are interesting because they reflect what’s foremost on American minds. Maybe election year politics help explain why 2024’s are mostly downers.

Both Dictionary.com and Collins Dictionary agreed with Oxford, the former citing a 1,000% increase in brain rot’s use online. 

Also way up with both dictionaries was a new use of “brat” (someone confidently rebellious, unapologetically bold and playfully defiant). 

Dictionary.com also listed “extreme weather,” with a 70% increase after 2024 saw more record-breaking temperatures, catastrophic storms and widespread flooding.

Collins also listed “looksmaxxing” (attempting to maximize physical looks), similar to Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s WOTY “demure,” which originally referred to people who are modest or seriously reserved. The more materialistic, new use originating on TikTok refers to how makeup is applied.

Finally, it’s Merriam-Webster’s top WOTY which has sadly become the modern way of life: Polarization. Ironically, as Webster’s put it, polarization is the “one idea that both sides of the political spectrum agree on.”

Polarization is defined by Webster’s as the “division into two sharply distinct opposites … the opinions, beliefs or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.”

In the 1800s polarization was simply a new scientific term, describing light waves vibrating in a definite pattern. The “polar” root derives from Latin polaris, which describes the Earth’s poles.

Polaris is also a name for the North Star, a greater irony as a uniting symbol this time of year. 

We could use a North Star to remember what unites us, and what’s most important in life. A Polaris to depolarize us out right of this brain rot.

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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email sholeh@cdapress.com.