Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
The terms competing for the Word of the Year (WOTY), are always interesting. The American Dialect Society 2025 WOTY contenders included the following:
- the algorithm, n: essentialized view of online algorithms as a unitary, deterministic entity.
- amphifa, n: playful resistance movement, as seen in “Amphibians Against Fascism” in Portland (amphibian + antifa).
- DOGE, v: eliminate or remove due to inefficiency claims from the Department of Government Efficiency; often get DOGEd.
- rage-bait, n: content that intentionally evokes rage, often in a taunting way.
- reheat nachos, v: redo something (as music), often in an inferior fashion.
- 6-7: interjection containing little semantic content, originating from “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla.
The American Dialect Society, also elects Words of the Year in following six categories:
MOST USEFUL WORD OF THE YEAR
- ☛ “that’s AI”: statement of distrust when determining that something presented as real (as an image) is in fact AI-generated.
- clock, v: notice or recognize, often calling attention to a subtext.
- diabolical, adj: evil in a fun or shocking way (can be used as an exclamation).
- rage-bait, n: content that intentionally evokes rage, often in a taunting way.
- recession indicator, n: signal of an impending economic downturn, often attributed humorously to cultural and fashion trends.
- rot, v: lounge and scroll social media (evoking brainrot and bedrot).
- valid crashout, n: justified mental breakdown.
MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED WORD OF THE YEAR
- ☛ chopped, adj: ugly, undesirable.
- glaze, v: effusively compliment in a cringeworthy fashion.
- performative male, n: man who superficially appeals to progressive or sensitive ideals through aesthetic presentation.
- unc, n: old person, originally an African American Vernacular English (AAVE) shortening of uncle but now gender-neutral.
- vibe-coding, n: use of an AI agent to code or assist in coding by using natural-language prompts.
POLITICAL WORD OF THE YEAR
- ☛ icy conditions, n: coded phrase alerting that ICE has been spotted in a neighborhood.
- disappear, v.: remove, abduct, or arrest (a person), as by a government agent.
- DOGE, v: eliminate or remove due to inefficiency claims from the Department of Government Efficiency; often get DOGEd (e.g., USAID).
- Kavanaugh stop, n: immigration status check in which a person is detained based on social identifiers (referring to Justice Kavanaugh’s opinion in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo).
- TACO, n: acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out (as in TACO trade).
- vice-signal, v: publicly promote negative or controversial views; antonym of virtue-signal.
DIGITAL WORD OF THE YEAR
- ☛ slop, n: low-quality, high-quantity content, most typically produced by generative AI; also as a combining form for anything lacking value produced in mass quantities.
- the algorithm, n: essentialized view of online algorithms as a unitary, deterministic entity.
- clanker, n: pejorative term for AI agents and robots.
- Great Meme Reset, n: hypothetical youth movement to reset memes on January 1, 2026.
- Italian brainrot, n: mock-Italian memes with generative AI characters (like Bombardiro Crocodilo and Ballerina Cappuccina).
INFORMAL WORD OF THE YEAR
- ☛ 6-7: interjection containing little semantic content, originating from “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla.
- big back, n: a person’s large body, or a large-bodied person (also bigbackery, big back behavior).
- body tea, n: attractive physical appearance (reinterpretation of her body tea).
- face card, n: undeniable good looks (as in face card never declined).
- (X), I fear: indication of mock apprehension, used for ironic effect.
- smoke, n: drama or aggression (as in "don’t want no smoke").
MOST CREATIVE WORD OF THE YEAR
- ☛ reheat nachos, v: redo something (as music), often in an inferior fashion.
- amphifa, n: playful resistance movement, as seen in “Amphibians Against Fascism” in Portland (amphibian + antifa).
- fridge cigarette, n: euphemism for an ice-cold Diet Coke or similar drink taken from a refrigerator as a refreshment.
- lowkirkenuinely, adv: in a lowkey genuine manner (lowkey + Kirk + genuinely), also flowkirkenuinely (flow state + Kirk + genuinely).
References
American Dialect Society (ADL) (website)
Zimmer, B. and Dr. K. E. Wright (Jan. 9, 2026). American Dialect Society selects ‘slop’ as 2025 Word of the Year. ADL 2025 WOTY Press Release.
No comments:
Post a Comment