It’s that time of year again! Another year has come and gone, and the world’s languages have continued to grow, change and evolve. Every year, language councils, dictionaries and national broadcasters across the globe highlight and consecrate some of the new words that have been seeping into our vocabularies. And every year, we like to put together a little round-up of some of the most interesting new words from the various languages we work with.
What can these new words tell us about the world we live in and how is it changing? What do they tell us about ourselves, and about how different cultures view and conceptualise the world? And, perhaps most interestingly of all, what do these words mean for the localisation industry, and those of us who have made it our craft to understand words in all their layers of nuance, and move them across linguistic and cultural boundaries?
Read on to find out
1. Brain Rot (English)
Kicking things off is the Oxford Word of the Year – Brain Rot.
As with many of the new words that enter our lexicons, this one is very timely and reflects one of the realities of our modern lives, namely our love/hate relationship with social media. The term is defined as: “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration”.
The term was actually first recorded in 1854, but has taken on a new significance in the digital age, especially among Gen Z. Often, it is used consciously and ironically, and it is strongly connected with certain types of content on social media platforms which are intentionally designed to be as inane, unusual and irritating as possible. Interestingly, these strains of brain-rot content have even given rise to a lexicon of their own known as ‘brain-rot language’, which includes terms such as Ohio to mean something embarrassing or weird, and Skibidi, which means something nonsensical and cringe.
The word was chosen as the Oxford Word of the Year by 37,000 people in a public vote from a short list of six words in total. The other contenders in the shortlist were demure, dynamic pricing, lore, romantasy and slop.
2. Brat (English)
Another word of the year in English, this time crowned by Collins Dictionary, is the word brat, which has been newly defined by British hyper-pop artist Charli XCX.
Brat first entered the dictionary in the 1500s and has traditionally meant a mischievous, spoiled or selfish child. Following the release of the Charli XCX album entitled Brat, however, the term has been redefined for a new era as a label which is ‘characterised by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude’ .
The term made the headlines earlier in the year when Charli XCX declared that Kamala was Brat, officially lending her endorsement to the Democratic presidential candidate. It was hoped that this declaration might tip the scales with young voters in the US, but sadly it was not quite enough to help Kamala Harris claim victory in the November elections.
3. Rawdogging (English)
Another term on the Collins shortlist for word of the year was rawdogging – a relatively recent slang term that has already received a second definition. In recent years, rawdogging has meant to undertake an activity without prior preparation or the proper equipment. In 2024, it has become strongly associated with a TikTok trend in which passengers embark on long-haul flights without doing anything at all to keep themselves entertained.
Those committed to rawdogging do not bring along a book or an iPad loaded up with games and films, and nor do they watch any of the in-flight entertainment provided by the airline. Instead, the only visual stimulation they allow themselves is the on-screen flight map which visualises the aircraft’s snail-like crawl between destinations.
According to an article in the Guardian, the term actually began its life as a rather explicit word with a specific meaning. Over time, however, it has undergone what is known as semantic bleaching – a process of becoming diluted and more versatile in meaning.
4. Ecogeste (French)
Moving away from English, one of the 150 new words added to the French dictionary Larousse in 2024 is Ecogeste. Like many new words, this one reflects changing habits and practices in our modern age. Specifically, it is the practice of adopting a new behaviour for the benefit of the environment, such as going vegan or giving up long-haul travel. Even smaller actions can be covered by the word, like turning down the radiators or swapping the car for the bicycle a few days a week.
This is one that translators will want to exercise caution around, namely because there is a false friend lurking in the second-half of the word. It may be tempting to translate geste as the similar-sounding English word gesture. However, gesture can have negative connotations. It may imply an empty or performative action that pays lip service to a problem, but which is intended more to benefit an individual’s image rather than to actually effect change. This sense of cynicism is not present in the French term, and so translators should take care not to inadvertently introduce it in their work!
5. Fedtemøg (Danish)
Denmark’s Word of the Year is crowned by the Danish Language Board in collaboration with the Danish national broadcaster, DR, on radio programme Klog på Sprog. This year the honour was bestowed upon the rather evocative word fedtemøg in a special broadcast from a high school in Odense.
The word literally translates as ‘fat muck’ or ‘grease dirt’. According to the Local DK, it has a colloquial subtext and might be used to describe a dirty child when they come home from playing in a muddy playground, for example. In 2024, it has risen to prominence for rather unfortunate environmental reasons.
Oxygen depletion in Denmark’s fjords has resulted in dead fish and the appearance of a dirty, oily layer on the surface of the water, and this is what has become known as fedtemøg. The issue has received widespread attention in Denmark, with activists even holding a funeral for Vejle Fjord in order to draw attention to the urgent need for action.
In response, government initiatives have been announced to improve conditions in 20 Danish fjords – and hopefully 2025 will show this to be an example of how the power of language can inspire positive change.
6. Bedredskapsvenn (Norwegian)
Sticking to Scandinavia, Norway’s word of the year, unfortunately, also points to a rather bleak and more uncertain future. In early December, the Language Council of Norway crowned beredskapsvenn as its word of the year – a word which literally means ‘preparedness’ or ‘emergency friend’. According to the council, it gained prominence after appearing in a brochure published by the Norwegian authorities with tips and advice on what to do should a crisis break out.
It therefore reminds us of the threats and dangers that may be lurking over the horizon, as we become increasingly accustomed to a deteriorating security situation in Europe. At the same time, though, it also points to the importance of community, and helps to normalise the idea that we must be prepared to help one another through difficult times. It is therefore a word with both a darkness and a lightness at its core, and one with a very strong connection to the unfolding political situation in Europe.
7. DANA (Spanish)
Like fedtemøg from Denmark, this new word from Spain also refers to an environmental phenomenon. The word is an acronym which stands for Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos –meaning periods of heavy rain, stormy weather and sudden drops in the temperature. Sadly, it is a word that everyone in Spain became familiar with this year as the meteorological phenomenon behind the flash floods that ravaged the Valencia region of Spain in the autumn. In fact, the term became so widespread, that it made its way into the dictionary published by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE).
Interestingly, there is no direct translation into English, possibly because this phenomenon does not typically occur in English-speaking parts of the world. A typical translation, according to the Local, would be a cold front with torrential rain, or just a very bad storm. The literal translation of the Spanish is: isolated depression at high levels. In technical terms, it is a meteorological phenomenon caused by differences in temperature and atmospheric pressure between the polar and equatorial regions.
8. Aura (German)
This one is actually an English term with anglophone origins – but one which has gained so much traction in Germany that it has been recognised as Germany’s Youth Word of the Year for 2024 by the Frankfurt Book Fair. A nice example of just how international language has become, and how words in the English language can take on lives of their own in other corners of the globe.
Originally, the word aura refers to the distinctive air or essence surrounding a person. German teens, though, have given the word a new twist by using it as a positive expression of being cool or doing good deeds. It is also used alongside the associated term aura points which refer to the total sum of your aura. Doing cool things gives you aura points and adds to your overall aura, while lame or uncool actions may cause one to lose points and diminish their aura.
The origins of the term have been traced back to a 2020 New York Times article about Dutch footballer Virgil Van Dijk in which he is quoted as saying: “Solutions Are Expensive. An Aura Is Priceless.”
9. Ampel-Aus (German)
Staying with Germany, this new word comes to us from the world of politics. It literally means ‘traffic-lights breakdown’ but has nothing to do with transport infrastructure. Instead, it refers to the collapse of Germany’s coalition government in the latter half of the year, which was known as the traffic-light coalition due to the colours of its constituent parties.
The term was chosen as the German Word of the Year by the Association for the German Language from a shortlist which included runners-up such as Klimaschönfärberei (greenwashing), Kriegstüchtig (war-ready) and Angstsparen (the practice of saving money out of fear). All in all, a selection which allude to the problems of our age, and which, like Ampel-Aus itself, hints at an uncertain future looming just over the horizon.
10. Katsu (English via Japanese via English)
Rounding off the list is what’s known as a boomerang word – one that started its life in English, flew off to Japan, then came right back at us in a slightly modified form.
Let us explain: In Japanese, the word katsu refers to a piece of meat, seafood, or vegetable, coated with flour, egg, and panko breadcrumbs, deep-fried, and cut into strips. It is a shortened version of the word katsuretsu, which, in turn, is a borrowing of the English word cutlet.
This year, the Oxford English Dictionary added the word katsu alongside 22 other borrowed terms from Japanese, around half of which relate to food and food preparation. The new definition specifies that katsu refers not only to a breaded piece of meat or veg as described above, but one that is typically served with shredded cabbage and tonkatsu sauce within Japanese cuisine.
The addition of this word to the English Dictionary is, we think, a nice example of the journeys words go on, and a positive example of how globalisation and digital connectivity allow for all kinds of enriching exchanges, both culinary and linguistic.
So, there you have it! Ten new words added to our lexicons in 2024 – a diverse and intriguing collection which, in many cases, reflect global challenges and mounting concerns about our future, but which also showcase our continued love for language, and a global, multi-generational tendency to get creative and have fun with new words. I don’t know about you, but in 2025, we will be keeping our eyes peeled for yet more new additions to our lexicons, and we will have great fun trying to come up with fun and inventive ways to translate and localise them – because that, too, is part of how new words come into being, and of how our languages continue to evolve and develop.
