Here we are again. The year's close is imminent, and already, the major dictionaries have followed tradition by announcing their words of the year. Since these choices usually offer a glimpse into the world that we inhabit, I think it's worth taking a glance at their picks.
Let's start in the UK. The lexicographers that curate the Cambridge Dictionary have chosen the adjective parasocial as the word of the year. In my view, this speaks volumes about the impact of social media on our workaday lives. How could a person possibly have a real emotional relationship (on some level) with a person they don't even know but feel close to? How about a personal relationship with a fictional character or a chatbot? All of a suddent I feel that the 2013 movie Her was eerily prescient. Anyhow, the Oxford Dictionary has also chosen a term which smacks of digital technology: rage bait. It is defined as "online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage". So, basically, stuff posted by trolls on social media. The fact that speakers feel the need to name that reality is, in itself, another sign of the times, wouldn't you say? And finally, we have the Collins Dictionary, whose wordsmiths have opted for yet another term with a technological flavor: vibe coding. As it happens, it describes an AI-assisted programming technique.
Given this rather grim state of affairs, most of us would have welcome a refreshing change of tack coming from the United States. Unfortunately, the prestigious Merriam Webster Dictionary's pick does not stray from the domain of technology. Its word of the year is slop, which, as we know, refers to "low-quality AI-generated content". And I get it. It should be acknowledged that slop has indeed become ubiquitous. These days whenever I log on to YouTube I am flooded with tons of AI-generated crap: videos depicting a fake animal rescues, singers with perfect voices but no discernible soul or ads for questionable online fitness courses. And separating the wheat from the chaff can often be exhausting.
But let's go back to new dictionary entries. This year has seen the rise of quite a few new terms mogging (to outclass or look better than someone), rizz (abbreviation of charisma), delulu (funny version of delusional), doomscroll (to waste time scrolling on social media), sigma (independent and cool), etc. It remains to be seen whether those neologisms really have any serious staying power. Some of them will inevitably fall by the wayside, just like so much teenage slang from previous decades.
What I find truly bewildering, though, is that my favorite dictionary has also incorporated a nonsensical expression that only Alpha-Gen seems to use: "six seven". Yes. You read right. 6-7. If you're an adult you don't really need to understand it or worry about it because, let's face it, the fad will soon be yesterday's news, but, for the time being, it is alive and kicking and still going strong. As far as linguistics goes, it is an intriguing phenomenon. After all, it's not every day that a literally meaningless expression becomes so disproportionately popular. Those two numbers really mean nothing. Apparently its origin can be traced back to the lyric to a song by artist Skrilla, but it really doesn't mean anything at all. I suppose it's quite telling that a big part of its success can be put down to this random video:
For reasons beyond my ken, that clip went viral and turned the phrase into a global trend. These days many young kids shout "six seven" every time those figures are mentioned. And, believe it or not, they don't try to say anything at all. They just yell "sin seven" for the sake of it. Really. It's the ultimate nothing burger. I suppose this is the world we live in: a technology-obsessed reality in which Artificial Intelligence is used to create garbage and even preposterous expressions enjoy public approval... for no particular reason.
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