It’s our Words of the Year episode, where we do a vibe check on all the words and name one of them our Because Language Word of the Year. We’re joined by Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty and a lot of friends and supporters. It’s going to be weird. It’s going to be brat. You know we’re going to eat that.
Timestamps
- Cold open: 0:00
- Intros: 0:54
- All the words from everywhere: 10:58
- Related or Not: 43:28
- Words from Mignon and James: 58:50
- Our Words of the Week of the Year: 1:13:23
- The Reads: 1:33:40
- Outtakes: 1:39:29
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Listen to this episode
Video promo
@becauselangpod Daniel has a sudden realisation: "WE can have a brat summer!" This is from our latest episode with @grammargirl.bsky.social Mignon Fogarty and all the patrons in chat. So much fun! https://becauselanguage.com/111-words-of-the-week-of-the-year-2024/
Patreon supporters
Thanks to all our patrons! Here are our patrons at the Supporter level.
This time we are ordering the name by how uncommon the letters are.
The most common letter is E, so if your name were all E’s, you would have the lowest score. All Z’s — you would come first.
If we were doing this in English.
But we’re not! We’re using letter frequency stats for Finnish!
The most Finnishly probable names are:
- Stan
- Kate
- Elías
- Matt
- Nasrin
- Joanna
- Steele
- Nikoli
- Daniel is here
- Alyssa
- Kevin
- Keith
- Ariaflame
- Rhian
- Laura — who just upgraded from Listener to Supporter!
- Manú
- Rene
- Ayesha
- Luis
- Helen
- Nigel
- Amir
- Ignacio
- PharaohKatt
- Tony
- Lyssa
- Mignon is here
- Colleen
- Kathy
- Whitney
- Aldo
- Ben is here
- Linguistic C̷̛̤̰̳͉̺͕̋̚̚͠h̸͈̪̤͇̥͛͂a̶̡̢̛͕̰͈͗͋̐̚o̷̟̹͈̞̔̊͆͑͒̃s̵̍̒̊̈́̚̚ͅ
- Felicity
- Andy
- O Tim
- aengryballs
- Margareth
- Kristofer
- gramaryen
- Amy
- Sonic Snejhog
- LordMortis
- Diego
- Rachel
- Meredith
- Termy
- sæ̃m
- Tadhg
- Canny Archer
- Jack
- Larry
- Andy from Logophilius
- Molly Dee
- Hedvig is here
- Chris L
- J0HNTR0Y
- Rodger
- Chris W
- Wolfdog
And our newest patrons:
- At the Listener level: John K and John M
- And our newest free members: Sonja, Cameron, and Don
Become a Patreon supporter yourself and get access to bonus episodes and more!
Become a Patron!Show notes
Collins: brat
The Collins Word of the Year 2024 Is…BRAT
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/woty
Charli XCX’s coined term named Word of the Year in 2024
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/charli-xcxs-coined-term-named-30271518
bratting | Urban Dictionary
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bratting
Brad Summer T-Shirt | Australian Greens
https://shop.greens.org.au/products/brad-summer-t-shirt
Australian National Dictionary Centre: Colesworth
2024 Word of the Year
https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/andc/news/2024-word-year
Cambridge: manifest
Celebrities make ‘manifest’ appear as 2024 word of the year
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/nov/20/celebrities-make-manifest-appear-as-2024-word-of-the-year
‘Manifest’: Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c774mzyrp84o
Macquarie: enshittification
Word of the Year 2024
https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2024/
Dictionary.com: demure
‘Demure’ is Dictionary.com’s word of the year. If that’s news to you, here’s the backstory
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/26/nx-s1-5206433/demure-word-of-the-year-jools-lebron
The Economist: kakistocracy
The Economist’s word of the year for 2024
https://www.economist.com/culture/2024/11/29/the-economists-word-of-the-year-for-2024
Oxford University Press: brain rot
Oxford’s Word of the Year Is ‘Brain Rot’
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/arts/brain-rot-oxford-word.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Writer Thoreau warned of brain rot in 1854. Now it’s the Oxford Word of 2024
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/02/nx-s1-5213682/writer-thoreau-warned-of-brain-rot-in-1854-now-its-the-oxford-word-of-2024
Is doom scrolling really rotting our brains? The evidence is getting harder to ignore
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/09/brain-rot-word-of-the-year-reality-internet-cognitive-function
If You Pass This Brain Rot Quiz, Your Brain Is 1000% Cooked
https://www.buzzfeed.com/sarathompson1/brain-rot-quiz
Merriam-Webster: polarisation
2024 Word of the Year: Polarization
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-of-the-year
Survey: NPR’s listeners best-informed, Fox viewers worst-informed [from 2012]
https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2012/survey-nprs-listeners-best-informed-fox-news-viewers-worst-informed/
Fox News and its audience became hooked on lies – now they can’t break the habit
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/21/fox-news-audience-lies-dominion-trial-donald-trump
German youth: aura
‘Aura’ is German youth word of the year 2024
https://www.dw.com/en/aura-is-german-youth-word-of-the-year-2024/a-70534660
Brazil: ansiedade (anxiety)
“Ansiedade” é eleita a palavra do ano no Brasil, segundo pesquisa
https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/saude/ansiedade-e-eleita-a-palavra-do-ano-no-brasil-segundo-pesquisa/
Language Lovers : A year when hedonism and anxiety combine
https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/a-year-when-hedonism-and-anxiety-combine/
Hawaiian: Mākia (aim, motto, purpose)
University of Hawai‘i at Hilo’s College of Hawaiian Language selects 2024 Hawaiian Word of the Year
https://bigislandnow.com/2024/12/10/university-of-hawaii-at-hilos-college-of-hawaiian-language-selects-2024-hawaiian-word-of-the-year/
Japan: Fute hodo
An Inappropriate Winner? Japan’s Word of the Year for 2024
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/c03840/
Oglaf: Morning Breath (Sleeping Beauty comic)
https://www.oglaf.com/morning-breath/
I say Derby, you say Darby …
https://glossophilia.org/2015/05/i-say-derby-you-say-darby/
Grammar Girl: 765 – Say No to Marshall Law. How ‘Vaccine’ Is Related to ‘Cow.’
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/559-grammar-girl-quick-and-dir-28288066/episode/765-say-no-to-marshall-60557263/
Google’s upcoming Maps feature will let you check out the ‘vibe’ of a neighborhood
https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/28/googles-maps-upcoming-feature-check-out-vibe-neighborhoods/
Torment Nexus | Know Your Meme
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/torment-nexus
Word of the week: Brunchlord | Fritinancy
https://fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-the-week-brunchlord
‘The Messenger’ Implosion Once Again Shows The Real Problem With U.S. Journalism Is Shitty Management By Visionless, Fail-Upward Brunchlords
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/02/02/the-messenger-implosion-once-again-shows-the-real-problem-with-u-s-journalism-is-shitty-management-by-visionless-fail-upward-brunchlords/
Chef Reactions: Jarlick | Tiktok
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/chef-reactions-jarlick
We Found the Best Minced Garlic in a Jar (a.k.a. Jarlic)
https://sporked.com/article/best-jarred-garlic/
What Is Marry Me Chicken?
https://www.allrecipes.com/article/what-is-marry-me-chicken/
this seems to bother quite a few people but the answer is that i’m just yapping and i don’t feel the need to add punctuation or capitalization when it isn’t necessary for meaning
— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) December 14, 2024 at 6:55 AM
From yap to pookie, 2024’s most viral internet slang defined
https://mashable.com/article/gen-z-internet-slang-defined-2024
The BL Word of the Week of the Year
10. forever chemicals
Chemicals that get into our bodies, build up, and don’t decompose
9. brat
Having a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude. As described by pop star Charli XCX, “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things some times.”
See also: brat summer
7. weird
Used by Minnesota governor Tim Walz to describe conservatives.
7. serving cunt
Being confident, sassy or fierce; having an aggressively cool and bold outfit or attitude. From drag culture since at least 2011
6. wankpanzer
A pointlessly large and overpowered 4×4 vehicle, in particular a Tesla Cybertruck
2. rawdogging
Taking a flight without indulging in entertainment or distraction
Originally, having sex without a condom
Expanded use: Engaging in an activity without using customary precaution
2. demure
Restrained in appearance and demeanour. Part of a catchphrase used by lifestyle and beauty influencer Jools Lebron: “very demure, very mindful.”
2. third spaces
Locations that encourage public relaxation, and facilitate social interaction besides the people you live or work with
2. AI slop
Low-quality content (textual or graphic) made by generative AI technology
1. sanewashing
Said of the media, when it makes bizarre or dislocated public pronouncements seem normal and coherent
Panzer Tanks | Types, Roles & Influence
https://study.com/academy/lesson/wwii-german-panzer-tank-facts-overview.html
[$$] Sharon Henderson Taylor: Terms for Low Intelligence
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3087798
Transcript
Coming soon.