Charli XCX's 'brat' crowned Collins' word of the year 2024
The Collins Dictionary selects a word or phrase to crown as the Word of the Year every year. This year, the competition was tight, but Charli XCX overshadowed it. It’s no surprise, as since the release of her album "brat," this word has been heard everywhere. Its popularity will likely endure throughout next summer.
10:02 AM EDT, November 1, 2024
If you are Gen Z, follow trends, and enjoy pop music with raw electronic influences, chances are you've been in your brat era for at least the past summer. The hype train of Charli XCX accelerated to 60 mph in seemingly no time and showed no signs of stopping. The artist unintentionally launched a trend that became a lifestyle, influenced fashion, and established her as the hottest festival headliner, making her a strong candidate for next year's Grammy Awards.
Everyone wanted to experience a brat summer—colloquial speech embraced "brat" and left no trace behind. No wonder language experts noticed the avalanche triggered by the Charli XCX effect. The Collins Dictionary selected "brat" as the Word of the Year 2024 in its annual contest, the equivalent of the Polish Youth Word of the Year.
Word of the Year 2024 selected. What words besides "brat" made the list?
The newly formulated definition of "Brat"—an adjective characterized by a confident stance, independence, and hedonism—reflects its pop-cultural influence and how it spread worldwide into common usage. Its first-place finish likely surprises no one.
The Collins Dictionary list for the Word of the Year 2024 also included words like:
- brainrot (difficulty in clear thinking, often a "freeze" caused by consuming low-quality content)
- era (a segment of someone's life or career distinguished by something special)
- looksmaxxing (the attempt to maximize the attractiveness of one's physical appearance)
- rawdogging (in trains, airplanes, and cars: the act of forgoing all entertainment and simply looking out the window or at the flight map)
- anti-tourism (actions taken against tourism on a massive scale)
- delulu (living in an illusion)
- romantasy (a literary genre combining romance and fantasy)
- supermajority (a significant majority in a legislative assembly that allows the government to pass laws without effective checks)
- yapping (talking at length about unimportant, uninteresting things)
