Rewind 2024: Assassinations, brat, manifest… The words that defined the year

Brain rotting, brat, demure… What do these words have in common? These are terms that have come to define 2024.

While some words denote joy and happiness, others reflect the anxieties that we experienced this year. For instance, climate breakdown and global boiling shed light on the severity of climate change and its impact on public health.

This year, we also learnt of many war-related terms, including words such as Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), as the world continues to see two major conflicts being fought — the Israel-Hamas war as well as the Russia-Ukraine war.

To best reflect on all of the words of the year for 2024, let’s rewind.

Assassination

If one word was extensively used this year, it was assassination. There were assassination attempts on three world leaders — Donald Trump and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The now US president-elect was the victim of two such attempts: one occurred on July 13 when a lone gunman fired at Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. It was later revealed that the bullet had grazed his ear. The gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by the Secret Service. The second attempt took place in September while Trump was playing a game of golf at his golf club in Florida. The gunman was later identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, and taken into custody.

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Meanwhile, Slovakia’s Fico was shot and critically injured in the central Slovak town of Handlová on May 15, 2024. The gunman was later arrested and identified to be 71-year-old Juraj Cintula.

Israel also carried out several assassinations this year, killing key figures within Hamas and Hezbollah; think Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah or Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Many would, in fact, say that 2024 was the year of assassinations.

ATACMs

It’s been more than 1,000 days of the Russia-Ukraine war and there are no signs of it abating.

In fact, the war has stepped up after the US approved Ukraine’s use of its Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS — pronounced “attack ’ems” — mid-November.

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With Ukraine deploying these long-range missiles against Russia, they became a part of everyday lingo.

Brain rot

We all spend hours and hours scrolling through social media. This mindless scrolling has given birth to the Oxford Word of the Year 2024 — brain rot.

The use of brain rot, first by author Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden in 1854, has increased 230 per cent this year.

As Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said, “Brain rot speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.

“I also find it fascinating that the word ‘brain rot’ has been adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha… These communities have amplified the expression through social media channels, the very place said to cause brain rot,” he added.

“It demonstrates a somewhat cheeky self-awareness in the younger generations about the harmful impact of the social media that they’ve inherited.”

Brat

Traditionally, brat defines a child who behaves badly or is annoying. However, 2024 saw the word being reinvented with Collins Dictionary even declaring it their word of the year.

It all started with the title of an album by pop singer Charli XCX and since then there’s been no end to it. Even Democratic nominee Kamala Harris appropriated it for her presidential campaign against Donald Trump.

But what does Brat mean now? It is characterised by “a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude”. The singer herself on TikTok explained the word brat to be someone “who feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of, like, parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.”

Collins said, “Brat resonated with people globally and ‘brat summer’ established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life.”

So, were you brat this year?

Demure

Or were you demure? Before 2024, the word was reserved for those who are reserved, quiet, or modest.

However, this year, demure got a whole new meaning. It is now used to describe refined and sophisticated appearance or behaviour in various contexts.

It started with TikToker and beauty influencer Jools Lebron, who made the phrase ‘Very demure. Very mindful’ viral through her satirical videos.

Now, demure has seen a meteoric rise; Dictionary.com said it saw a nearly 1,200 per cent increase in usage on the digital web media alone from January to August.

‘Ek hai toh safe hai’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known for his wit and oratory skills. While in office, he has penned many slogans and acronyms — think ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’, ‘Reform, Perform & Transform’.

During the Maharashtra elections, which concluded in November, he coined one more similar slogan — ‘ Ek hai toh safe hai’ (together we are safe). On November 8, while campaigning for the BJP in Maharashtra, he accused the Congress of creating a rift between castes and tribes. Urging people to stay “united”, Modi said, “Rajiv Gandhi opposed Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation. Now, they are dividing the castes within OBCs and various tribes in tribal communities. We need to maintain unity, so remember, “Ek hain toh safe hain.’”

And it appears his slogan worked. The BJP-led Mahayuti coalition stormed to power with a resounding 235 seats in a 288-member Assembly.

Elections

The year 2024 has been dedicated to elections around the world. Some reports said that around 1.5 billion people went to the polls this year as significant elections were held in more than 50 countries.

Big countries such as India, the US, the UK, France, and Pakistan went to the polls, where anti-incumbent sentiment was high. One of the few to escape this trend was India’s Narendra Modi as he returned to power for a third term.

Alas, the same didn’t happen for UK’s Rishi Sunak, who lost to Labour’s Keir Starmer and Sri Lanka’s Ranil Wickremesinghe who gave way to Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

In the US, Trump made a return after trouncing Kamala Harris, the nominee from the Democratic party.

Enshittification

Before 2024, very few would have known what this word means, but thanks to Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary, enshittification is now the word of the year.

The word refers to “the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking.”

Huh?

If you are a social media user — and c,mon who isn’t — you could relate to this. That’s because enshittification means the feeling you experience as trolls and extremists overtake the platforms.

As Cory Doctorow, who coined the word, explained: “First, platforms are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves.

“It’s frustrating. It’s demoralising. It’s even terrifying.”

Manifest

Most believe that the mind is all-powerful. In 2024, the Cambridge Dictionary gave it a nod by naming manifest as its word of the year.

The word that now means willing something into existence through the power of positive thinking has been given a nod after several celebrities have used it on social media platforms. As the dictionary explained, “In 2024, the word manifest jumped from being mainly used in the self-help community and on social media to being mentioned widely across mainstream media.”

For instance, singer Dua Lipa attributed her success – including headlining Glastonbury this year – to manifesting. Another celebrity who spoke of manifesting success this year was US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.

So, what are you manifesting in 2025?

Mpox

If 2020 was the year of Covid-19, then 2024 was the year of Mpox. A disease believed to have been limited to the African continent spread far and wide, causing panic and concern in many parts of the world.

Cases of the virus have been detected in parts of Europe and even in Asia, including India — the country reported three cases this year.

The outbreak of Mpox also prompted WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to declare it a public health emergency of international concern in August.

Will it spread further in 2025? Only time will tell.

Oreshnik

Vladimir Putin-led Russia is in possession of many weapons — nuclear as well as non-nuclear. On November 21, he introduced a new kind of missile carrying six warheads, striking Ukraine’s Dnipro.

Called the Oreshnik, meaning hazel tree in Russia, the “new conventional intermediate-range” missile has the capability of travelling at a speed of Mach 10, or 2.5-3 km per second (10 times the speed of sound). There’s also no current way of counteracting this weapon.

The use of such a missile in the Russia-Ukraine war has spread worry and concern for all.

Pagers

For Gen Z, pagers are an unknown entity. They have little to no understanding of this tiny wireless communication device, which can receive and display alphanumeric or voice messages via radio frequencies.

However, when a wave of such devices exploded in Lebanon in September, killing eight people and injuring 2,700 others, it piqued everyone’s curiosity. Many rushed online, googling about pagers, which quickly made it a top Google Trend.

It also spurred on the war between Israel and Lebanon, with Hezbollah pointing the finger at the Jewish nation for the attack.

Presidential pardon

Joe Biden is a family man. Even his profile on X describes him as ‘husband to @DrBiden, proud father and grandfather’.

Yet on December 1, the US president surprised all when he granted a “full and unconditional pardon” to his son, Hunter Biden, who has been found guilty in two criminal cases.

With this singular action, US President Biden brought the phrase presidential pardon back into the spotlight, with many wondering what exactly is this privilege and how powerful it is.

Biden’s pardon of son Hunter has also led many to believe that Trump would use the same constitutional power to grant reprieve to himself in the federal cases that he faces once he becomes president.

Rawdogging

After Covid, travel has returned with a vengeance, spawning many trends. One of the big ones this year was rawdogging in which travellers endure the journey without any form of entertainment, distraction, or even basic amenities. Some make it extreme by foregoing onboard food, drinks, and even bathroom breaks.

However, this practice has earned some concern from health officials.

Tell us, would you rawdog on your next travel?

Silent Firing

In 2023, the corporate sector saw quiet quitting — where employees gradually disengaged from their jobs without formally resigning. However, this year it was all about silent firing — in which companies subtly encourage employees to resign by making their jobs increasingly difficult, often in favour of replacing them with artificial intelligence (AI).

The trend became a talking point when Amazon forced employees to come into the office five days a week despite most of the workforce expressing dissatisfaction with the return-to-office policy. This led to 73 per cent of workers considering quitting, according to one survey, as per a report in the New York Post.

So, are you one of the victims of silent firing?