Terminology - Oxford WOTY 2024 -- Vote now!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Celebrating 20 years of WOTTIES, Oxford is calling on the public to vote for the 2024 Word of the Year (WOTY).  As Susie Dent, Oxford resident dictionary expert, lexicographer, etymologist, Two Words game designer, and multiple-book author puts it:

 The choice is yours! There is no committee presiding over our language. It is a democracy. As much as some would like a linguistic government. We all are it.

Voting is open till November 28, 2024, at 3 pm (GMT).  Click on the QR code to vote! 

The following summarized definitions and rationales are quoted at the Oxford Dictionary site for the six 2024 WOTY candidates: 

dynamic pricing: The practice of varying prices for a product or service to reflect changing market conditions, in particular, the charging of a higher price at a time of greater demand. According to Oxford, the term is a loan translation from the Swedish term “dynamiska prisbildning”. The term was coined by a Swedish economist, Gunnar Myrdal, in 1927, and then translated to English, in 1929, by another Swedish economist, named Erik Lindahl. Recently, the term has spiked in  high profile cases of online sales, involving the price of concert tickets. 

demure (adjective): Of a person, reserved or restrained in appearance or behavior. Of clothing, not showy, ostentatious or overly revealing. The earliest occurrence recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary, in 1377, was in reference to the sea being calm. Oxford recorded a recent spike, in 2024, after the term was used by Jools Lebron, a fierce diva influencer on TikTok. 

lore: 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 at hand. According to Oxford observations, the term has been used recently in more engaged fandoms to refer to what surrounds a celebrity, book, film or character.  

brain rot: Supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially as a result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also something characterized as leading to such deterioration. In the Oxford corpus, recorded usage increased 250% in frequency, per one million words, between 2023 and 2024. 

slop: Art, writing, or other content generated using AI, shared and distributed online in a indiscriminate or intrusive way, and characterized as being of low quality, inauthentic, or inaccurate. According to Oxford, the term appeared in use since the mid-nineteenth century to refer to nonsense or rubbish. In 2024, Oxford recorded a 332% increase in use of “slop” to refer to material produced by LLMs. Material seen as inaccurate or low quality, and increasingly visible. 

romantasy: 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. According to Oxford, the word originates, in 2008, at Random House Germany, as a translated genre label, from German, for romantic fantasy novels. In 2024, usage  spiked in discussions at the BookTok forum, on Tiktok. 

References

Oxford WOTY 2024 (YouTube video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwKnx07Bsco 

Dent, S. (2024). Guilty by Definition: A Journey of Oxford past and present. London, UK: John Murray. 

-----  (2023). Interesting Stories about Curious Words: From Stealing Thunder to Red Herrings. London, UK: John Murray. 

----- (2022). Words from the Heart: An Emotional Dictionary. London, UK: John Murray.

----- (2020). Word Perfect: Etymological  Entertainment Every Day. London, UK: John Murray. 

----- (2016). Modern Tribes: The Secret Languages of Britain. London, UK: John Murray. 

----- (2009). What made the crocodile cry? 101 Questions about the English Language. London UK: John Murray. 

-----(2008). Words of the Year. London, UK: John Murray.

Susie Dent (Instagram)

https://www.instagram.com/susiedent/reel/DCY8Q3esUFA/

Susie Dent -That woman in the Dictionary Corner. (on X)

https://x.com/susie_dent?lang=en 

Two Words with Susie Dent  (Online and mobile game.) 

https://www.playtwowords.com/ 

Terminology – WOTTIES 2024 (2) Collins Dictionary WOTY shortlist

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann 

Shortlisted terms for the Word of the Year are always at least as interesting as the winner of them all. The following Collins Dictionary GIF and JPEG files each present one of the nine shortlisted terms for the 2024 Word of the Year. The terms are shown together with their Collins Dictionary definition. 

 

References
Collins Dictionary - WOTY 2024, Shortlisted words.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/woty

Collins Dictionary - The Language Lover's Blog.

https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/a-year-when-hedonism-and-anxiety-combine/

Terminology – WOTTIES 2024 (1) Collins Dictionary Word of the Year

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Collins Dictionary has selected the adjective ‘brat’ as the 2024 Word of the Year (WOTY). The noun ‘brat’ is hardly new, since it appears as early as the 1500s, in Songes & Sonettes, to express a child in contempt of the law, according to etymological information found in the Oxford English Dictionary. A meaning that has evidently evolved into a far more popular form of outlaw, combining rebellion, freedom, irreverence, and love. 

The term surged during a "brat summer" with the latest charli XCV, techno-pop, hit album, titled brat. Collins defines the adjective ‘brat’ as “characterized by a confident, independent and hedonistic attitude.” On the wild side of this transformed use of the term, the political slogan “Kamala is brat” also went viral.

Below, the Collins GIF file, animating the adjective ‘brat’, the Collins Dictionary, 2024 WOTY.

References

brat. Studio album produced by charli XCV et al. Released by Atlantic Records, June 7, 2024. 
Collins Dictionary - WOTY 2024.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/woty
Collins Dictionary - The Language Lover's Blog.
https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/a-year-when-hedonism-and-anxiety-combine/

Interlude ! Do you speak Gaultier?

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Jean Paul Gaultier website is running a linguistic experiment powered by AI. The experiment consists in collecting French language samples. To participate you might record yourself, and/or listen to others speaking. This is part of Jean Paul Gaultier’s commitment to diversity, in this case a celebration of linguistic diversity. 

Click on the Divine perfume bottle to participate in the study, and enjoy!

Reference

Jean Paul Gaultier (website)

https://fashion.jeanpaulgaultier.com/en-us

Oh, patents! Jean Paul Gaultier double flask

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Gaultier² perfume for men and women was launched in 2005, as a unisex perfume. The perfume was created by Francis Kurkidjan, the perfumer who had also created the immensely popular Jean Paul Gaultier Le mâle perfume. The Gaultier² perfume has musk, vanilla, and amber notes, with hints of sandalwood and jasmine.

In 2023, the Gaultier² perfume made a comeback by popular demand, following an online survey with customers. The comeback was orchestrated around the desire to bring back the lingering pleasure of memories associated with the Gaultier² fragrances.

The design of the Gaultier² perfume bottle was also squared, enabling the perfume to be contained in two separate bottles, connected together with magnets. The double flask design was patented in the US design patent USD593875S, titled Double flask. The patent was granted to Jean Paul Gaultier on June 9th, 2009.

Below, the patent Figure 1 showing a front perspective view of the double flask. An image of the marketed Gaultier²  perfume is also included. The image clearly depicts the two flasks connected and disconnected.

The YouTube video clip, below, shows the advertisement campaign for the Gaultier² unisex perfume, conditioned in a double flask.

References
Jean Paul Gaultier (website)
https://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com/
Francis Kurkidjan (website)
https://www.franciskurkdjian.com/us

Oh, patents! Jean Paul Gaultier Scandal!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Scandal! Eau de Parfum by Jean Paul Gaultier was launched in 2017. The bottle, made of glass with a stopper designed as female legs, was created by Jean-Marc Galvez. The US design patent, USD856151S, titled Perfume bottle, was awarded to Jean-Marc Galvez, on August 13, 2019.

Below, the patent Figure 1.2 depicts a front view of the bottle. An image of the marketed Scandal! Eau de Parfum bottle is also included.

      

Scandal! Eau de Parfum is a floral perfume with gardenia, honey and patchouli notes, created by Daphné Bugey, Fabrice Pellegrin and Christophe Raynaud. Since the first edition of the Scandal! Eau de Parfum, conditioned in its iconic bottle and stopper, several additional fragrances have been launched, including a matching line of Scandal! fragrances for men (contained in a different bottle). The line of Scandal! fragrances for women includes: Scandal by Night! (2018), Scandal à Paris! (2019), So Scandal! (2020), and Scandal Absolu! (2024). Scandal pour homme! (for men) was launched in 2021.

Below, the advertisement YouTube video for the first, irreverent Jean Paul Gaultier Scandal! Eau de parfum for women. A clip, where “Madame la Ministre” (Madam, the Cabinet Minister) is portrayed as a divinely scandalous woman in politics.

Reference

Jean Paul Gaultier (website)

https://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com/us/en_US/

Oh, patents! Jean Paul Gaultier Classique (vintage)

 Copyright ©  Françoise Herrmann

Below, the image of a miniature, 30 ml/1 fl.oz, corseted dress-form, bottle, containing Jean Paul Gaultier Classique pure perfume extract  The  US design patent, USD375677S, titled Bottle, was granted to Jean Paul Gaultier, on November 19, 1996.  The patent Figure 6 depicts a front perspective view of the famous bottle. 

Reference

Jean Paul Gaultier Fragrances (website)

https://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com/us/en_US/fragrances