As 2024 comes to a close, brands and dictionaries alike are declaring the words that defined the year, and Gen Z’s influence is clear in nearly every one of them. Oxford selected “brain rot,” a term tied to the chaotic, meme-driven humor fueling Gen Z’s content consumption. Dictionary.com chose “demure,” a viral trend that Gen Z gravitated toward. Collins highlighted “brat,” a nod to the popularity of “brat summer” that Gen Z undoubtably was responsible for (which YPulse reported on in real-time.) It’s also important to note that while Gen Z popularizes much of today’s slang, many of these trending words have African American Vernacular English (AAVE) to thank for their appearance in mainstream lexicons. But while everyone is acknowledging Gen Z’s vocabulary of 2024, YPulse is going straight to the source and getting the word of the year from the trendsetting generation themselves. We asked 1,500 13-39-year-olds what they think was the most popular word or phrase of 2024 (i.e. a word or term that was most...
- Article
