 "What is 'brain rot', the Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year?")
Do you often catch yourself endlessly scrolling through trendy Instagram Reels, hoping to escape boredom? If yes, you might be experiencing what’s now famously called “brain rot”—a term that has been crowned Oxford Dictionary’s 2024 Word of the Year.
Becoming a hot topic across the internet, “brain rot” garnered over 37,000 votes to secure its place as the winner, emerging from a shortlist of six words compiled by Oxford University Press, the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary.
But what exactly does “brain rot” mean? And why did it resonate enough to earn the title of Word of the Year? Let’s take a closer look.
What is brain rot?
The term “brain rot” is officially defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.”
In simpler terms, it’s the effect of spending too much time online and consuming low-quality, mindless content—primarily on social media.
Dr Michael Rich, a paediatrician and founder of the hospital’s Digital Wellness Lab, explained to The New York Times that people experiencing brain rot often filter their daily lives through the lens of online content, which influences how they communicate and behave.
“Many of my patients see brain rot as a badge of honour, much like achieving high scores in video games. They compete for screen time as if it were a prize,” Dr Rich told the publication.
The relevance of this term is clear, as its usage on the internet soared by 230 per cent from 2023 to 2024.
Psychologist and Oxford University Professor Andrew Przybylski shared with the BBC that the word’s popularity is a “symptom of the time we’re living in.”
How did come into existence?
The first recorded use of brain rot dates much before the creation of the internet - it was written down in 1854 by Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden.
He criticises society’s tendency to devalue complex ideas and how this is part of a general decline in mental and intellectual effort.
Reflecting on this, he posed the question: “While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally?”
The term gained popularity among GenZ and Gen Alphas when a TikTok user discovered a meme based on a World War II-era illustration called ‘The 2000 Yard Stare’.
The image, depicting a soldier’s haunted expression after witnessing the horrors of war, went viral and was widely used to depict the feeling of being overwhelmed by internet content.
🖼"The 2000 Yard Stare” by🖌🎨Thomas Lea depicts a nameless real-life AmericanMarine at the Battle of Peleliu(World War II,1944). The 2000-yard stare: phrase used to describe the blank,unfocused gaze of combatants who have become emotionally detached from the horrors around them. pic.twitter.com/eXuiJp7UUq
— 🚩Soraia Verneer🎨 (@SoraiaVermeer) February 21, 2023
Joshua Rodriguez Ortiz, an 18-year-old high school senior from Billerica, Massachusetts, told The New York Times that he had noticed “brain rot” being used more frequently in recent months.
“I think people started realising that TikTok is so consuming over our lives that it just felt like brain rot because people are scrolling on TikTok constantly, and there’s so many niche references from TikTok,” he said.
While Professor Andrew Przybylski clarified that “there’s no evidence of brain rot actually being a thing,” he explained that the term reflects our growing dissatisfaction with the online world. “It’s a word that we can use to bundle our anxieties that we have around social media,” he noted.
Also read: Hooked to smartphones? What excessive internet usage does to teenage brains
How to deal with brain rot?
The issue of excessive internet use is viewed differently by experts and institutions. While some argue for treatment plans curing “digital addiction,” others, Dr Rich, offer a different perspective.
Dr Rich believes that for some young people, especially those with conditions like ADHD, activities such as gaming or using social media act as a form of self-soothing and help them feel competent. He suggests that labelling these behaviours as addiction ignores their function as coping mechanisms.
He said the goal should be to reframe the debate about internet and phone usage from “good vs. bad” to “healthy vs. less healthy” in an effort to help parents and children develop better online habits.
The Newport Institute also recommends limiting screen time, choosing positive content, and engaging in offline activities like hobbies or outdoor pursuits. They also encourage spending quality time connecting with friends and family.
What other words were shortlisted?
Apart from brain rot, words that were Oxford’s word of the year race are as follows.
Demure (adj.): Of a person: behaving in a way that does not attract attention to herself or her body; quiet and serious.
Dynamic pricing (n.): The practice of varying the price for a product or service to reflect changing market conditions; in particular, the charging of a higher price at a time of greater demand
Lore (n.): A body of (supposed) facts, background information, and anecdotes relating to someone or something, regarded as knowledge required for full understanding or informed discussion of the subject in question
Romantasy (n.): A genre of fiction combining elements of romantic fiction and fantasy, typically featuring themes of magic, the supernatural, or adventure alongside a central romantic storyline
Slop (n.): Art, writing, or other content generated using artificial intelligence, shared and distributed online in an indiscriminate or intrusive way, and characterized as being of low quality, inauthentic, or inaccurate.
With input from agencies
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