Kathleen Valenti

War of the Words

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I’m getting ready for the fight of the year, and no, I’m not talking about boxers who don eponymous garb to jab and uppercut their way around the ring.  I’m referring to the battle of the bons mots to see which will be crowned Word of the Year.

I’m fascinated by these verbal fisticuffs.

I love language in its ever-evolving iterations. How else can we explain the mysteries of the Great Vowel Shift (which I didn’t know was a thing until two minutes ago), or the fact that my children would have no idea what I meant if I asked them what their damage was (and which I’m sure would be grody).

In years of yore, the following words made the list for being new, important, creative, outrageous, most likely to succeed, or my own category, funnest to say.

Here’s a sample of WOTY that seem especially zeitgeist-y.

1992    Not!

2008    Bailout

2009    Tweet

2012    Hashtag

2014    Mansplain

2016    Dumpster Fire

2022    Goblin Mode

2023    Swiftie

This year’s list, per ye olde Oxford English Dictionary, includes:

Brain rot
This refers to the (supposed) deterioration of one’s mental or intellectual state, especially as a result of overconsumption of material considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Although the word has been around for a while, its use has increased a whopping 250% over the past year. Zoinks!

Demure
If you saw Jools Lebron’s viral TikTok video, you probably know why this word blew up, along with “mindful.” These days, this nod to (often feminine) restraint is used in a coyly sarcastic way.

Dynamic pricing
Uber users know this one all too well: the practice of varying the price of something to reflect changing market conditions (read: charging a higher price for something that is in greater demand).

Lore
Huh. I was surprised to see this one on the list. A reference to gatekeeping and being braggingly “in the know” about someone’s or something’s backstory, I don’t think I’ve used “lore” since that year in college I almost became a folklore major. (Which would have been AMAZING, by the way.)

Romantasy
This genre is huuuuuuuuuuuuge among many of my friends. Although I prefer forensics over fantasy, I totally understand the appeal of a mashup of supernatural/adventure/romance.

Slop
It’s interesting to see yet another old-but-used-in-a-new-way word. This little gem, which has been used since the mid-nineteenth century, now applies largely to AI-generated content. Mmmmhmmmmm.

There are worthwhile mentions from other sources, of course. A few of my personal faves include:  

Boujee (definitely the funnest to say)

Bussin’

Drip (my son uses this term constantly)

Extra

Rent-free

Salty

Shook

Vibe-check

Do you know the definitions of this last batch of words? Are there words or phrases that didn’t make it on the WOTY shortlist but you think should? Give us the good word. (Or words.)

33 thoughts on “War of the Words”

  2. This is awesome! (That has to have been a word of the year in the 80s). I have a 24 year-old and social media accounts, so I’m up on a lot of these. For “Huh?” I’ll go with drip and bussin’ . But also, what did “damage” mean in your day? I somehow missed that.

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    1. As far as I know, the term came from the movie, “Heathers,” which I rewatched last year and was shocked at how much darker it was than I remember. Aaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, it’s kind of like “what’s wrong?” but more like “what’s your problem?”

      And those kids of ours definitely help our slang vocabularies!

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  3. Thanks to my 23 year old, I know a few of the words on your list, Kathy. Though there’s a difference between knowing them and knowing what they mean!

    i want to bring back scallawag. “He’s a right scallawag,” is a phrase we need again!

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    1. My mom used to refer to guy nerds (in an unpleasant, socially awkward sense, not the cool sense they are now) as “drips.” That’s the only def I know, lol.

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  5. Uh-oh. Such a fun post, Kathy, but I am so uncool and out of it right now, I don’t know a lot of these words! Should I be super worried? I used to be more up on translation. My fave is still “dumpster fire” but I will immediately adopt “slop.” (In fact, I will use it in my Chicks post for Monday–the word, not the AI.) Sadly, brain rot is increasing every minute of every day for me, it seems.

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  7. I had to laugh when I saw you mentioning NOT from 1992. I love Disney’s Aladdin. But even back then, when I saw it in the theater, I thought about how dated it was going to make the movie when they had Iago using that at one point.

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  9. Oh, boy. Since I have no kids–or grand kids–I am woefully behind on my slang knowledge. But it does fascinate me that “drip” has apparently make a 180-degree turn in its meaning. (Kind of like “literally,” I guess.) I did finally learn “salty,” however–though I would never use it in conversation; it would be far too incongruous with my white hair. I’m stickin’ with “dude” and “bitchin’.”

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    2. Oh, I love “dude.” I always add a “my” in front of it, mostly as a lament. “My dude … too much body spray.”

      And, of course, yesterday I was able to post my comment. Today I cannot so I’m tagging on again.

      Here’s what I tried to say …

      My faves are salty and bougie. I spell it differently because, well, I’m bougie.

      I also love to say something is basic or people are straight-up hotties. But my VERY favorite thing to say is to my Boomer peers. I toss an “Okay, Boomer” at ’em and they don’t know how to respond. Makes me laugh every time.

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    2. I’m still low-key confused why they sometimes use high-key when it seems like low-key is more appropriate???

      My son uses “drip” to specifically talk about accessories. Maybe it’s regional!

      “Slaps” always makes me laugh!

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