Of all the year-end competitions that inevitably kick off in November – from Spotify Wrapped to Sainsbury’s biggest clients – the most representative annual tenor is the Words of the Year from the Collins, Cambridge, Merriam Webster and Oxford dictionaries. In recent years, the terms “permacrisis”, “NFT”, “lockdown”, “fake news”, “gaslighting”, “pandemic” and “post-truth” have been mentioned in various dictionaries, indicating the political and cultural climate.
While the words are sometimes very specific (the most obvious being “lockdown” and “pandemic”), other times they are more vague or more related to a niche cultural phenomenon rather than a universal experience. For example, the OED’s 2004 word of the year was “bovvered,” a reference to Catherine Tate’s “Am I bovvered” sketch that was so popular at the time. Last year it was “goblin mode,” an internet term for careless behavior.
And now Collins has announced his shortlist and winner for 2023. Taking first place this year is “AI” – not strictly speaking, but an acronym that stands for “artificial intelligence”, referring to the alarmingly large increase in the prevalence of robots in our lives thanks to software like ChatGPT. Also shortlisted was “ultra-processed”, a word that has become increasingly popular this year following the publication of Chris Van Tulleken’s best-selling book. Ultra-processed people and “greed inflation,” a phenomenon in which companies use inflation as an excuse to artificially raise prices.
But in the more nebulous cultural realm, there are some words and phrases that say a lot about changing cultural patterns in modern life: namely, “non-child,” “de-influence,” and “canonical event.” This shows that the Internet is finally catching up with us: or, to put it simply, people are no longer looking for the picture of an ideal life that we have been sold online for the last decade, but instead are looking for debunked nonsense.
“Nepo Baby,” of course, refers to people whose careers were helped by famous parents (Collins says this mostly applies to people in the entertainment industry). Fake kids have been around since the beginning of show business, but this year the term has gained popularity due to the collective performance of these children – from Iris Lowe to Kylie Jenner – who serve to demonstrate the reality of success. While we’re often sold the idea that anyone can be rich and famous, growing awareness of fake kids means people are becoming more comfortable with the reality that it’s much easier to break into the entertainment industry if you have someone who can to get you. at the door. .
Likewise, “influencer” is clearly a direct analogue of “influencer” (influencer was on Collins’s 2019 shortlist) – a word that has come into full use in recent years and essentially refers to a person who sells products through social media. MASS MEDIA. “Influence reduction” refers to the growing phenomenon of people with large followings essentially telling us what not to buy—again, an attempt to cut through the tide of content and show us that the ideal lifestyle is achievable by simply buying more things.
It’s important to note that even Defluence still strives to promote a “personal brand.” This gives you influence among your followers and enhances your image as an honest and sincere person.
While social media’s emphasis on “authenticity” has become an almost undeniable positive of late, it’s not that simple. Everything we do online is a form of performance, which means that authenticity—the antidote to performance—can also be staged. What we’re seeing, in contrast to the “highlight videos” promoted in the early days of Instagram and Facebook, is a desire for self-narrative: that means documenting the good, the bad, and the ugly for all to see.
This brings us to “canonical event,” another term Collins identified as referring to 2023. On the Internet, the term refers to particularly seismic events in people’s lives that are believed to have come to define their identity (a trend stemming from). youngest Spider-Man animated film About “Spider”, which chronicles the series of events that defined Spider-Man, such as how he was bitten by a radioactive magic spider and turned into a superhero. Seasoned with typical social media irony, this can include anything from a childhood trauma to a haircut – the important point is that the “canonical event” contributes to the impression a person makes on social media. Gets followers.
All this is to say that while Collins’ word of the year may seem a little obvious, the shortlist says a lot about the current state of culture. Online communities continue to have enormous influence. Celebrities are increasingly subject to scrutiny. We won’t tolerate any more nonsense. And perhaps it’s somewhat reassuring to know that we’re still as self-obsessed as ever.
Source: I News
I am Mario Pickle and I work in the news website industry as an author. I have been with 24 News Reporters for over 3 years, where I specialize in entertainment-related topics such as books, films, and other media. My background is in film studies and journalism, giving me the knowledge to write engaging pieces that appeal to a wide variety of readers.