The claim that “brain rot” is Oxford University Press’s Word of the Year (2024) is correct. On Oxford University Press’s website, the word “brain rot” was unveiled as the word of the year, with over 37,000 votes from the public. This word was chosen due to its relevance in social media this year. From 2023 to 2024 the utilization of this word increased “by 250% in frequency per million words.” Further, on December 1st, 2024, “brain rot” was posted as their word of the year on their public Instagram page @oxnuipress.
This claim has also been verified by other reputable sources like Time Magazine, The New York Times, and The Guardian. Time Magazine reported, “‘Brain rot’ beat out five other finalists, including ‘dynamic pricing,’ ‘lore,’ ‘romantasy,’ ‘slop,’ and Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year ‘demure.’ ‘Brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time,” Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said in the announcement.”
The link provided in this claim matches the information provided on other websites reporting on Oxford’s word of the year. This source reports, “Just as it has in years past, Oxford University Press said it again enlisted the public’s help in choosing its word…The term “brain rot” was selected from a short list of six words.”
