After more than 37,000 votes, public discussions around the globe, and linguistic data analysis, Oxford has declared “brain rot” as the Word of the Year for 2024.
Oxford experts observed that the term “brain rot” gained new relevance this year as a way to express concerns about the impact of excessive low-quality online content, especially on social media.
The use of the term increased by 230% between 2023 and 2024.
The first recorded use of “brain rot” dates back to 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, but it has taken on a new meaning in the digital age.