Alright, so Oxford University Press just dropped their Word of the Year for 2024, and guess what? It’s “brain rot.” That’s right—brain rot. You know, that thing we all feel after two hours of scrolling through TikTok because we’re too lazy to get off the couch and, apparently, too lazy to think critically anymore. Oxford says the term—which originally came from Henry David Thoreau (yes, that guy from your AP English nightmares)—now means the mental mushiness we get from binging low-quality online content. Oh, and they’ve got the data to back it up: the phrase is up 230% in usage this year. Surprise! We’re all scrolling our way to intellectual doom.
And honestly, is anyone shocked? Look around. If “brain rot” doesn’t explain how some of y’all voted in this year’s election, I don’t know what does. People out here treating social media posts like gospel, and now we’re stuck with leadership that feels like it came out of a “Build Your Own Dictator” kit you ordered off Wish. It’s like we’ve traded facts and policies for clickbait and vibes. And we wonder why things are messy.
Here’s the thing: “Brain rot” isn’t just a cute phrase. It’s a mirror, y’all. A big, shiny mirror showing us exactly how much time we spend watching cats play the piano and arguing in comment sections with strangers whose profile pictures are anime characters. Oxford didn’t just pick this word to sound smart. No, they’re trying to tell us that we’re all frying our brains like cheap gas station hot dogs. And you know what? They’re not wrong.
Let’s talk about politics for a second—because “brain rot” is everywhere in that circus. You’ve got people doomscrolling their way into anxiety comas, sucked into echo chambers that spit out the same “the sky is falling” headlines over and over. Meanwhile, the algorithms are out here playing matchmaker, pairing you with the content you’ll hate just enough to keep you engaged. Oh, you clicked on one article about conspiracy theories? Boom—now your feed is full of lizard people and flat-Earth videos. And somehow, those same algorithms are telling your aunt that vaccines are microchips. This is how we’re making our decisions now—not facts, not debates. Memes. Freaking memes.
And don’t get me started on “doomscrolling.” Oh, you know about that. It’s like crack for the chronically online. You wake up, check your phone, and suddenly you’re three hours deep into stories about climate disasters, mass layoffs, and your favorite celebrity getting canceled. But you can’t stop. Why? Because your brain is addicted to the disaster. And just like that, you’re late for work, your coffee’s cold, and you hate the world before 9 a.m. Good morning!
Now, Oxford’s announcement isn’t just a wake-up call. It’s a giant flashing neon sign saying, “Hey! Maybe stop killing your brain cells on garbage content and do something useful.” But are we gonna listen? Nah. We’re too busy making AI-generated Drake songs and trying to “go viral” by dancing in the grocery store. Meanwhile, our democracy is over here gasping for air like it’s been trapped in a sauna with no ventilation.
Because here’s the real kicker: this brain rot stuff isn’t just about us feeling dumb. It’s about what happens when a society full of brain-rotted people tries to run a country. We’re so busy arguing over whether pineapple belongs on pizza that we’re not paying attention to the actual problems. Like, oh, I don’t know, climate change, healthcare, or the fact that billionaires are out here building rocket ships while we’re drowning in student loan debt. It’s all connected, y’all. The rot spreads.
So what do we do? Well, maybe we start by logging off once in a while. Read a book. Call your mom. Volunteer. Or at the very least, fact-check that wild claim before you repost it to your 300 followers. Because if we don’t, we’re just gonna keep circling the drain, one TikTok dance at a time. And let’s be real: the future doesn’t look so hot when the brain-rotted are running the show.
Congratulations, Oxford. You nailed it. Now, can someone please put that on a t-shirt? Preferably one that says, “Stop scrolling and start thinking” on the back. Let’s make that go viral.
