Oxford University Press (OUP), the world’s second-oldest academic press and the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, has announced its Word of the Year — and, oh boy, is it confusing for us older folks.
Every year, OUP goes through a vast and constantly updated collection of over 22 billion words sourced from news outlets across English-speaking countries to select one word that perfectly “sums up that year.”
For 2023, they switched up the game. Starting with eight hot words, they let the public dive in, vote, and narrow them down to four front-runners. Then, OUP’s experts stepped back in, did their word wizardry, and picked this “charismatic” word as the standout star.
Here are the shortlisted words, the finalists, and this year’s champion.
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8. ‘Parasocial’
Let’s say the biggest recent event in your love life is your favorite actor sharing a new photo on Instagram. Your friends might say that you’re getting a bit too “parasocial.” This concept isn’t a TikTok invention, unlike most new slang terms. Coined in 1956 by sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl, “parasocial” describes the one-sided feelings of friendship or intimacy, often sparked by media like TV and radio.
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7. ‘Heat Dome’
One shortlisted word is “heat dome” which is “a persistent high-pressure weather system over a particular geographic area, which traps a mass of hot air below it.” Given the increasing debates over climate change issues, it’s unsurprising why such a term was among the most popular this year.
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6. ‘De-Influencing’
Back in 2019, “influencing” was among the shortlisted words, so naturally, in 2023, the counter-term “de-influencing” also found its way onto the shortlist. So what is “de-influencing,” you ask? It’s precisely what it sounds like: content creators are taking to platforms like TikTok to encourage people not to buy certain products. According to TODAY.com, the hashtag #deinfluencing skyrocketed to over 76 million views on TikTok by February, 2023.”
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5. ‘Beige Flag’
Picture someone who dunks Oreos in water rather than milk and clings to a childhood Lego obsession well into adulthood. According to TikTok, this person is showing severe “beige flags.”
“Beige flag ” is a relatively new term in the ever-evolving lexicon of modern dating and is essentially the grey area of dating signals. It’s not quite the alarming “red flag” nor the encouraging “green flag”—it’s the “meh” signal indicating traits in a romantic prospect that aren’t exactly deal-breakers but don’t necessarily rouse excitement either.
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4. ‘Swiftie’
Every fan of the country-turned-pop singer Taylor Swift will fight you that they are not just random fans of a pop star; they are Swifties. One of the three finalists for Word of 2023, “Swiftie,” is what you say about someone who is a devoted Taylor Swift fan.
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3. ‘Situationship’
So you are seeing someone. It’s casual, but it’s also serious, but it’s still not labeled, so one might say you are in quite a “situationship.” One of the OUP’s finalists for 2023, situationship is a blend of “situation” and “relationship” and a term popularized by social media and modern dating shows, meaning that you are in a romantic or sexual relationship with someone, but it’s still not official.
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2. ‘Prompt’
The runner-up for the 2023 Word of the Year comes hand in hand with the recent popularity of AI and it becoming an everyday part of our lives. So when you say, ” I asked ChatGPT to write an informal email to my cousin,” you also want to say, “My prompt to ChatGPT was…” According to OUP, the usage of the word “prompt” in contexts that relate to AI increased drastically this year from very little use before 2022.
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1. ‘Rizz’
Yes, the word “rizz” is the 2023 Word of the Year. Now, of course, many Gen Xers and Boomers are asking: “What in the rizz is a rizz?”
It all happened when Tom Holland declared in a 2022 interview with BuzzFeed that he has no “rizz” whatsoever.
So what exactly is this that Holland has a very limited amount of?
Charisma.
Rizz is just a riff on the word charisma and the Gen Z slang for style, charm or attractiveness. So, if you are talking about someone who’s naturally confident and has style, you’d say “This person has a lot of rizz.”
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.
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