Time to stop scrolling? ‘Brain rot’ is Oxford’s Word of the Year 2024


The term “brain rot” describes the mental and intellectual deterioration supposedly caused by excessive consumption of online content. — AFP Relaxnews

This year's Word of the Year could also be a word of warning. The term “brain rot” tops the list for 2024, according to the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, reflecting growing concerns about the impact of over-consuming large amounts of online content, particularly on social networks.

It's a term that Internet users have undoubtedly seen over and again on social networks, especially since the frequency of its use has risen by 230% in one year, peaking in September. The expression “brain rot“ was chosen as Word of the Year by over 37,000 people from a list of six words proposed by Oxford University Press, after two weeks of voting.

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