Collins Dictionary informs us that 2025’s “word of the year” is “vibe coding”, the amateur practice of using AI to write computer code. Almost every dictionary now offers a word of the year. The idea is to seek publicity, and presumably “connect” with younger demographics who pay little attention to lexicography. In recent years the Oxford English Dictionary has descended from its ivory tower to recommend the neologisms “brain rot”, “rizz” and “goblin mode”. I suppose these owlish efforts at hip are preferable to the pious Merriam Webster which has recently elevated “democracy”, “integrity” and “feminism”.
Well, it is easy (and enjoyable) to scoff. But the proliferation of words of the year also reflects a real phenomenon: we are living through a period of linguistic innovation that is probably unprecedented in the history of English. In a culture widely regarded as stuck, with its endlessly self-reproducing superhero franchises and stale literary scene, our language is a heartening source of creativity.
The main motor of change is, of course, the internet. Language production has been radically democratised. Words no longer have to get into newspapers or onto television to gain wide currency. They can bubble up anywhere and spread with alacrity online, jumping across cultures and continents.