
Die 1889 gegründete American Dialect Society (ADS) verkündet ihr „Word of the Year“ immer erst im Januar des Folgejahres, wenn alle anderen derartigen Wettbewerbe für die englische Sprache längst entschieden und schon wieder halb vergessen sind.
Allerdings besitzt die ADS-Veranstaltung in den Vereinigten Staaten das höchste Renommee, was auch daran liegt, dass sie bereits seit 1990 durchgeführt wird.
Diesmal fiel die Wahl auf einen Ausdruck, den die Konkurrenz nicht auf der Liste hatte: to rawdog. In der Pressemitteilung heißt es:
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2024 Word of the Year Is “Rawdog”
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown–Jan. 10—The American Dialect Society, in its 35th annual words-of-the-year vote, selected rawdog as the Word of the Year for 2024. More than three hundred attendees took part in the deliberations and voting, in an event hosted in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America’s annual meeting.
The verb rawdog is defined as “to undertake without usual protection, preparation, or comfort.” While the word originated as a slang term referring to having sex without a condom, rawdogging ended up crossing over into mainstream usage for a wide variety of activities, like the travel trend in which a passenger sits through a flight without any distractions.
Presiding at the Jan. 6 voting session were Ben Zimmer, chair of the ADS New Words Committee, and Dr. Kelly Elizabeth Wright of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, data czar of the New Words Committee. “Rawdog has recently and rapidly burst its sexual bounds to refer to engagement in any activity without the typical preparation or in stone-cold sobriety.” Dr. Wright said. “In 2024 folks rawdogged flights, family dinners, and final exams. As one nominator commented this evening, rawdog is a great choice for Word of the Year as we collectively rawdog the future of American politics in 2025.”
Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as “vocabulary item”—not just words but also phrases, compounds, and affixes. The items do not have to be brand-new, but they have to be newly prominent or notable in the past year.
The vote is the longest-running such vote anywhere, the only one not tied to commercial interests, and the word-of-the-year event up to which all others lead. It is fully informed by the members’ expertise in the study of words, but it is far from a solemn occasion.
Members in the 135-year-old organization include linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, editors, students, and independent scholars. In conducting the vote, they act in fun and do not pretend to be officially inducting words into the English language. Instead, they are highlighting that language change is normal, ongoing, and entertaining.
In a companion vote, sibling organization the American Name Society selected “Ozempic” as Name of the Year for 2024 in its 21st annual name-of-the-year contest. Further information can be found on the society’s website, americannamesociety.org.
American Dialect Society Voting Results
Raw vote totals and percentages of the vote are given after each nomination. In cases requiring a runoff, two figures are given. Winners are indicated by an asterisk.
Word of the Year (2024)
* rawdog: to undertake without usual protection, preparation, or comfort (extension of earlier meaning ‘to have sex without a condom’) 145/208
brat: someone who exudes a confident, hedonistic attitude (in the style of Charli XCX); also adj./attrib. as in brat summer
crash out: to act irrationally or impulsively; to reach one’s limit; also crashout: a person characterized by extreme emotional reactivity 37
cooked: totally exhausted or broken beyond repair; humiliated, outperformed or swiftly defeated; hopeless, desperate 31
sanewashing: downplaying or restating extreme political rhetoric to make it more palatable, esp. referring to whitewashing media coverage 54/77
yap: to talk excessively or enthusiastically (valued negatively or positively); also yapper (enthusiastic talker), yapanese (incomprehensible chatter) 17
Most useful
* lock in: to enter a state of deep focus and concentration 134
bedrot, bedrotting: the act of lying in bed and avoiding daily responsibilities (also, more positively, hurkle-durkle, n. or v.) 21
cooked: totally exhausted or broken beyond repair; humiliated, outperformed or swiftly defeated; hopeless, desperate 31
crash out: to act irrationally or impulsively; to reach one’s limit; also crashout: a person characterized by extreme emotional reactivity 37
eat (esp. in past tense ate): to execute, accomplish, or complete something remarkably well; also devour, 4+4 = ate 53
Most likely to succeed
* unserious: lacking a properly serious attitude, often as a dismissive putdown 107/168
aura: charismatic presence, often associated with athletes (also aura points) 76
girlypop: fun, trustworthy female friend (also as an adj.: cute, pretty, or stereotypically girly) 14
NIL: name, image, and likeness (means for student athletes to receive financial compensation) 87/130
tariffied: afraid of the consequences of excessive tariffs 6
Political Word of the Year
* Luigi: used in reference to Luigi Mangione, charged in deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, as in Luigi-pilled, Luigification, Luigi intensifies; also as a verb (to get Luigi’ed) 116/165
bleach blonde bad built butch body: epithet used by Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Tex.) toward Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) after Greene insulted Crockett 43
broligarchy: political structure controlled by a small group of powerful men, especially those considered “techbros” 16
burrito taxi: mocking term in arguments about the rising prices of using food delivery apps, ridiculing the idea that it is a sign of inflation 2
lib out: to have false or unrealistic hope and positivity for the future from embracing mainstream Democratic politics 8
sanewashing: downplaying or restating extreme political rhetoric to make it more palatable, esp. referring to whitewashing media coverage 77/128
weird: strange, bizarre, out of step with the mainstream (as used by Tim Walz and other Democrats about Donald Trump and J.D. Vance) 22
Digital Word of the Year
* brainrot: mental deterioration from consumption of media/content held to have no redeeming value; also the media itself 189
AI slop: content generated by artificial intelligence of little value, often intended to flood search results 69
cope, n: belief or practice that someone uses to emotionally or intellectually deal with a negative circumstance or situation 9
tradwife: wife who fulfills notions of traditional gender roles, often in line with the white supremacist subculture 11
Xit, Xodus: mass departure of users from Twitter/X 10
Informal Word of the Year
* rawdog: to undertake without usual protection, preparation, or comfort (extension of earlier meaning ‘to have sex without a condom’) 140
cooked: totally exhausted or broken beyond repair; humiliated, outperformed or swiftly defeated; hopeless, desperate 31 50
mewing: jaw-strengthening technique developed by British orthodontist John Mew; a do-ityourself facial restructuring method (also jawmaxxing) 3
mog: to outdo in attractiveness or appearance; to assert dominance based on physical appearance (derived from AMOG, ‘alpha male of group’) 1
W, adj.: being the best of its kind or an excellent instance of something (as in W rizz or W crashout) 10
yap: to talk excessively or enthusiastically (valued negatively or positively); also yapper (enthusiastic talker), yapanese (incomprehensible chatter) 76
Most creative Word of the Year
* “the X I X-ed”: phrasal template with an invented irregular verb, used as a playful intensifier (as in “the gasp I gusped/guspt,” “the scream I scrempt”) 173
broligarchy: political structure controlled by a small group of powerful men, especially those considered “techbros” 16
in da clerb, we all fam: viral quotation used to facetiously assert solidarity, derived from a Broad City sketch 9
-maxxing (combining form): enhancement to “maximize” one’s attractiveness or appeal (as in looksmaxxing, jawmaxxing) 93
Most Fun while ist lasted Word of the Year (special category)
* brat: someone who exudes a confident, hedonistic attitude (in the style of Charli XCX); also adj./attrib. as in brat summer 148
demure: modest and reserved in outlook or appearance, as popularized on TikTok by lifestyle and beauty influencer Jools Lebron 66
hawk tuah: the sound or action of spitting, esp. in preparation for oral sex; popularized by Hailey Welch in a viral video 53
hold space: to create a safe space for a person, concept, or thing; to be present without judgment 18
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ADS-Kür keineswegs „älteste derartige Wahl“
Die ADS führt ihre Wahl zum Wort des Jahres seit 1990 durch. Nach ihren Angaben handelt es sich dabei um „the longest-running such vote anywhere“.
Das gilt jedoch allenfalls für die USA. Die Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (GfdS) kürt schon 13 Jahre länger die Wörter des Jahres, nämlich seit 1977 regelmäßig und davor schon 1971 einmalig.
Wahlen zum Wort des Jahres sind eine deutsche Erfindung, die im Lauf von Jahrzehnten Nachahmer in anderen Ländern fand.
- 2024-01-05: American Dialect Society kürt „enshittification“ zum Wort des Jahres 2023
- 2023-01-07: American Dialect Society wählt “-ussy” zum Wort des Jahres 2022
Richard Schneider