Vocabulary: Popular words in 2024
Intermediate to advanced level (B2-A2)
Oxford University Press (who publish a lot of English language learning books) are inviting people to vote for their word of the year. Their shortlist is:
Brain rot – not a new expression but used more and more on social media to say that looking at too much social media can negatively affect your mental health or intellectual powers.
Demure – again not a new word. In fact it has been used for hundreds of years. It is being used on TikTok to mean not showing off or being reserved.
Dynamic pricing – once more, it is not a new expression but is being used because of ticket priced changing as a result of demand.
Lore – a very old word connected with teaching and facts. In social media it is now being used to describe the background information on and history of a celebrity.
Romantasy – used a lot on TikTok. It is a combination of romantic and fantasy to describe a book.
Slop – used for over a hundred years to describe low quality literature. It is now being used for low quality or inaccurate text generated by AI.
Vote for your favourite at Oxford University Press
