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/r/misc
This is a short story that incorporates every "Word of the Year" from five different sources (American Dialect Society, Oxford University Press, Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, and Collins English Dictionary) starting from 1990. Each word was creatively woven into the narrative to reflect its historical and cultural context, showing how language and societal trends evolved over time.
It was made by compiling all the Words of the Year into a list and then building a cohesive story that connects the words chronologically, blending their meanings and the events they represent. It was made as an experiment in ChatGPT.
In a world caught between bushlips and truth, where the mother of all decisions loomed over humanity, people often muttered a sarcastic Not! as they scrolled through the information superhighway. The advent of cyber connections had replaced face-to-face conversations, and the web became a second home to many.
Life in the year 1996 seemed simple, with soccer moms chauffeuring kids in minivans while worrying about the millennium bug that threatened to end the world at the stroke of midnight in 2000. Little did they know, they’d soon be flooded with **e-**mails and crash into the chaos of Y2K, where punch cards and chads dictated elections, and the tragic events of 9-11 reshaped the world’s priorities.
The media buzzed about weapons of mass destruction, while the younger generation embraced terms like metrosexual and argued over the cultural significance of a red state, blue state, purple state dynamic. Political discourse descended into truthiness, and anyone who disagreed was swiftly plutoed from the conversation. As the economy crumbled under the weight of subprime mortgages, governments worldwide scrambled for bailout packages.
By 2009, everyone was learning how to tweet and downloading the latest app on their smartphones. Movements like Occupy Wall Street took hold, fuelled by viral hashtag campaigns. People changed their online behaviour because they finally realised the world was paying attention to their every post. Movements like #BlackLivesMatter challenged systemic injustices, while advocates for inclusivity championed the use of they as a singular pronoun.
By 2016, society was grappling with dumpster fire politics and accusations of fake news, with children being sent to tender-age shelters while debates over gender norms led to phrases like “What are (my) pronouns?” Then came Covid, throwing the world into lockdown. In its wake came insurrection, where mobs charged into halls of power, leading linguists to coin words like -ussy in memes that mocked societal absurdities. The tech-savvy bemoaned enshittification as platforms became bloated with ads and clickbait.
The rise of chav culture felt distant as the internet went wild for sudoku puzzles, while green-minded activists pushed for a carbon-neutral future. Communities embraced eating locally with a locavore mindset, even as they endured economic turmoil like the credit crunch. Social networks introduced concepts like "unfriending," and celebrities coined awkward phrases like refudiate.
Political analysts spoke of the squeezed middle, while millennials redefined the meaning of a GIF. Suddenly, selfies weren’t just a trend—they were a way of life, and vaping became the new status symbol. Emojis like 😂 won linguists’ hearts, as post-truth politics dominated headlines. Unexpected youth movements caused a youthquake, challenging toxic narratives, while climate advocates warned of a climate emergency.
The pandemic brought buzzwords like vax into focus, with goblin mode embracing a lazy, unkempt lifestyle as society emerged from isolation. In the digital age, brain rot became shorthand for doomscrolling on TikTok. Meanwhile, dictionaries tracked trends in democracy, tergiversate, and privacy, and society debated over issues of identity and xenophobia. When the era of NFTs arrived, some called it revolutionary, while others dismissed it as misinformation.
Today, a single woman, armed with confidence and allyship, challenges the permacrisis of our times. She faces the rise of AI, battling its cold efficiency with her human intuition. Her rebellious spirit embodies a new cultural archetype: the brat, unapologetic and ready to lead the world into the next chapter.
It was based on this list:
American Dialect Society (ADS)
1990: bushlips
1991: mother of all
1992: Not!
1993: information superhighway
1994: cyber
1995: web
1996: mom (as in "soccer mom")
1997: millennium bug
1998: e-
1999: Y2K
2000: chad
2001: 9-11
2002: weapons of mass destruction
2003: metrosexual
2004: red state, blue state, purple state
2005: truthiness
2006: plutoed
2007: subprime
2008: bailout
2009: tweet
2010: app
2011: occupy
2012: hashtag
2013: because
2014: #blacklivesmatter
2015: they (singular)
2016: dumpster fire
2017: fake news
2018: tender-age shelter
2019: (my) pronouns
2020: Covid
2021: insurrection
2022: -ussy
2023: enshittification
Oxford University Press (OUP)
2004: chav
2005: sudoku
2006: carbon neutral
2007: locavore
2008: credit crunch
2009: unfriend
2010: refudiate
2011: squeezed middle
2012: GIF (verb)
2013: selfie
2014: vape
2015: 😂 (face with tears of joy emoji)
2016: post-truth
2017: youthquake
2018: toxic
2019: climate emergency
2020: No single word (COVID-related themes highlighted)
2021: vax
2022: goblin mode
2023: brain rot
Merriam-Webster
2003: democracy (based on search spikes)
2004–2024: Data not consistently available.
Dictionary.com
2010: change
2011: tergiversate
2012: bluster
2013: privacy
2014: exposure
2015: identity
2016: xenophobia
2017: complicit
2018: misinformation
2019: existential
2020: pandemic
2021: allyship
2022: woman
2023: demure
Collins English Dictionary
2013: geek
2014: photobomb
2015: binge-watch
2016: Brexit
2017: fake news
2018: single-use
2019: climate strike
2020: lockdown
2021: NFT
2022: permacrisis
2023: AI
2024: brat
legendary dude
Please vote for my photo in the America’s Favorite Photos competition: https://AmericasFavoritePhotos.com/v/x77mw6
I love when the world is quiet
Subj. I keep seeing adds for the that type of item. Doesn't bother me much, I'm just wondering, how do I save em from wasting time?
This is a normal link: https://x.com/PuppygirlMao/status/1851150180675940777
This is a hyperlink: I'm a hyperlink! Click me!
You can format a hyperlink like this:
[I'm a hyperlink! Click me!] (here goes the link)
just make sure to remove the space between the part in brackets and the part in parentheses, they have to be touching like this [lololol]{linklinklink} (but using parentheses instead of keys)
This poll on my local news website.