It’s official: ‘brain rot’ has been crowned Oxford’s Word of the Year for 2024, and it’s here to describe what might just be the most relatable concept of our times.
But what’s really going on with this gnarly phrase?
According to Oxford’s language reports, ‘brain rot’ is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially as a result of consuming excessive, trivial online content.”
In simpler terms: it’s what happens when your brain feels like mush after endless scrolling through TikTok videos, viral memes, and the kind of content that doesn’t even pretend to challenge your mind.
What’s really behind the rise of this term? Well, over the last year, ‘brain rot’ has seen a 230% increase in usage, as people have grown more concerned about the effects of low-quality online content.
The term isn’t just a critique of what’s on the internet; it’s a wake-up call about the harm of overindulgence in shallow, repetitive material that often plagues social media.
If you’ve ever binge-watched nonsensical viral videos or spend hours on ‘only in Ohio’ memes, you know exactly what we mean.
Interestingly, ‘brain rot’ wasn’t born in the era of digital detoxes and viral TikToks.
The first known use of the phrase dates back to 1854, when Henry David Thoreau used it in Walden to critique society’s preference for mindless content.
But, in 2024, it’s back with a vengeance, used both humorously and seriously by Gen Z and Gen Alpha to explain the effects of endless meme consumption.
The meme-ification of ‘brain rot’ has led to its transformation into a sort of “brain rot language,” where terms like ‘skibidi’ (referring to absurdity, thanks to viral Skibidi Toilet videos) and ‘Ohio’ (for anything weird or embarrassing) have slipped from online culture into our everyday vocab.
So, the next time you find yourself staring blankly at a screen, lost in the rabbit hole of viral content, just remember: brain rot is real, and it’s officially Oxford-approved.