Ensh*ttification
This word won the vote, but not hearts – has WOTY lost its way?
Contact sat down with UQ Emeritus Professor and author Roland ‘Roly’ Sussex to talk about the ever-evolving English language and 2024's Word Of The Year.
‘Tis the season of WOTY – Word Of The Year, when various expert bodies declare their choice of the most important word or phrase of the year which we are about to farewell.
The Australian winners for 2024 are now out.
The Australian National Dictionary Centre in Canberra went for ‘Colesworth’, a combination of the names of our two biggest supermarket chains. The word has been in increasing circulation since earlier in the year, and it expresses a dissatisfaction with the way in which the supermarket duopoly, in the view of millions of Australians, has not been behaving like an admirable citizen.
And now the Macquarie Dictionary has released their choice, ‘enshittification’. This ugly word expresses the degradation of a commercial service, product or website over time from quality goods and quality customer relations to shabby goods and uncaring customer relations.
So, what makes these 2 examples important for 2024? Profit comes before quality? That's nothing new. And it’s so negative. Was there nothing uplifting, positive, enabling, or at least emblematic (I absolutely refuse to say ‘iconic’) in the events of 2024?
In the past we had WOTYs which stood out memorably: ‘selfie’ (actually an Australianism) in 2013, ‘democracy sausage’ in 2016, ‘fake news’ in 2017, ‘quarantine’ in 2020.
These words rise far above ‘Colesworth’ and ‘enshittification’, which were not widely representative. And if they did show a sudden increase in use in 2024, this was not across the board. ‘Enshittification’ wasn’t even original, since it parroted the American Dialect Society’s WOTY for 2023.
My judges’ card shows 2 fails for ‘Colesworth’ and ‘enshittification’. Lexical oddities like these don’t rate WOTY status simply by quick local flowering. A worthy WOTY is more than statistics. It is more a qualitative thing, a word with resonance and a place in memory. And if the year has been mainly a dismal churn – and many people have expressed this idea to me about 2024, albeit not always in so many words – then let’s say straight up that in 2024 there was no WOTY which was eminent enough to warrant a prize. We have had an un-WOTY year.
Sadly, for me WOTY has lost its way. I’m cautiously hoping for better things in 2025.
Some background on WOTY
WOTY began in Germany in 1971 as Das Wort des Jahres. It was taken up in 1990 by the American Dialect Society, which prompted a rush of Emperor's New Clothes imitators around the world. And it's an intriguing thought that a word could somehow capture what the year has really been about.
To be sure, there is much to worry about. Climate change, wars, dysfunctional digital systems and a genuine widely felt unhappiness that our political systems have dropped the ball and are not representing the best interests or wishes of the electorate.
We can see this in the 2024 shortlists of WOTYs from respected bodies like the Oxford University Press. They list 'romantasy', 'lore', 'brain rot', 'demure', and 'dynamic pricing'.
Collins, they of dictionary fame, have opted for ‘brat’.
The Economist has just announced 'kakistocracy' (government by the worst people) as its WOTY.
And now the Macquarie Dictionary has released their choice, ‘enshittification’. This ugly word expresses the degradation of a commercial service, product or website over time from quality goods and quality customer relations to shabby goods and uncaring customer relations.
So, what makes these 2 examples important for 2024? Profit comes before quality? That's nothing new. And it’s so negative. Was there nothing uplifting, positive, enabling, or at least emblematic (I absolutely refuse to say ‘iconic’) in the events of 2024?
In the past we had WOTYs which stood out memorably: ‘selfie’ (actually an Australianism) in 2013, ‘democracy sausage’ in 2016, ‘fake news’ in 2017, ‘quarantine’ in 2020.
These words rise far above ‘Colesworth’ and ‘enshittification’, which were not widely representative. And if they did show a sudden increase in use in 2024, this was not across the board. ‘Enshittification’ wasn’t even original, since it parroted the American Dialect Society’s WOTY for 2023.
My judges’ card shows 2 fails for ‘Colesworth’ and ‘enshittification’. Lexical oddities like these don’t rate WOTY status simply by quick local flowering. A worthy WOTY is more than statistics. It is more a qualitative thing, a word with resonance and a place in memory. And if the year has been mainly a dismal churn – and many people have expressed this idea to me about 2024, albeit not always in so many words – then let’s say straight up that in 2024 there was no WOTY which was eminent enough to warrant a prize. We have had an un-WOTY year.
Sadly, for me WOTY has lost its way. I’m cautiously hoping for better things in 2025.
Some background on WOTY
WOTY began in Germany in 1971 as Das Wort des Jahres. It was taken up in 1990 by the American Dialect Society, which prompted a rush of Emperor's New Clothes imitators around the world. And it's an intriguing thought that a word could somehow capture what the year has really been about.
To be sure, there is much to worry about. Climate change, wars, dysfunctional digital systems and a genuine widely felt unhappiness that our political systems have dropped the ball and are not representing the best interests or wishes of the electorate.
We can see this in the 2024 shortlists of WOTYs from respected bodies like the Oxford University Press. They list 'romantasy', 'lore', 'brain rot', 'demure', and 'dynamic pricing'.
Collins, they of dictionary fame, have opted for ‘brat’.
The Economist has just announced 'kakistocracy' (government by the worst people) as its WOTY.
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