It’s been a long year in travel – strikes and almost strikes; the weather (oi, the weather! – too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too windy!); wars; inflation; bankruptcies; planes (or at least parts of them at any rate) literally falling out of the sky; dynamic pricing (remember that word); Donald Trump; and, as Bill Murray opined in ‘Ghost Busters’ of the end of days, “cats and dogs living together!” It’s enough to give one… brain rot.

Indeed, many of us have felt it, but now it’s official: “Brain rot” is the Oxford dictionaries’ word of the year.

Oxford University Press declared that the evocative phrase “gained new prominence in 2024,” with its frequency of use increasing 230% from the year before.

Oxford defines brain rot 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.”

The word of the year is intended to be “a word or expression that reflects a defining theme from the past 12 months.”

“Brain rot” was chosen by a combination of public vote and language analysis by Oxford lexicographers. It beat five other finalists: demure, slop, dynamic pricing, romantasy, and lore.

While it may seem a modern phenomenon, the first recorded use of “brain rot” was by Henry David Thoreau in his 1854 ode to the natural world, “Walden.”

Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said that in its modern sense, “’brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.”

“It feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology. It’s not surprising that so many voters embraced the term, endorsing it as our choice this year,” he said.

Last year’s Oxford word of the year was “rizz,” a riff on charisma, used to describe someone’s ability to attract or seduce another person.

Collins Dictionary’s 2024 word of the year is “brat” – the album title that became a summer-living ideal.

If this article was shared with you by a friend or colleague, you may enjoy receiving your own copy of Travel Industry Today with the latest travel news and reviews each weekday morning.  It’s absolutely free – just CLICK HERE.