Polarization, brain rot and brat – the 2024 words of the year point to the power, perils and ephemeral nature of digital life

By Roger J. Kreuz, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of Memphis

Ever since the American Dialect Society selected a Word of the Year at its conference in 1990, over half a dozen English dictionaries have anointed an annual word or phrase that’s meant to encapsulate the zeitgeist of the prior year.

In 2003, the publisher of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary began bestowing a crown. On Dec. 9, 2024, it selected “polarization” as its word of the year, which joins a list of 2024…

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