Pick a Word, Any Word
Presently, it's damn near impossible to agree on anything, be it healthcare plans, political parties, religious affiliations or which wine to pair with a perfectly cooked Feta and Bacon Stuffed Chicken with Onion Mashed Potatoes (too random?). It can be as trivial as cash or charge, paper or plastic, ... Ginger or Mary Ann. Fact is, no one's on the same page. You see this dichotomy reflected in a record number of hung juries, the government's seeming inability to pass any meaningful legislation and the scores of disgruntled shoppers waiting in the holiday gift return lines. People argue over how much to tip their waitress or which rock album is the best of all time. They're at odds when it comes to aging, whether to do it gracefully or put their plastic surgeon on retainer. Hell, no one can agree on what "dress casual" even is anymore. So, yeah, why should "The Word of the Year" be any different?
Indeed, when it comes to the realm of verbiage and the powers that be, there's one word--or phrase--that supposedly captures the zeitgeist of the time and is awarded Word of the Year. Which word is it for 2025? Depends on who you talk to. Merriam-Webster, garnering the most coverage online and possessor of the longest-running list (starting in 2003), has opted for the word "slop". The second lexicon of import, the Oxford English Dictionary (2004 being its premier entry), elected "rage bait". And, finally, the newest to the table (its maiden submission in 2010), Dictionary.com, went with "67". There is so much in that last sentence to find troublesome that I'm almost at a loss for words... Almost.
Okay, so let's start with Webster. "Slop", first used in the 1700s, was defined as soft mud, later meaning something of little value. Now, with the proliferation of outright "make up whatever you want 'cause everyone else is doing it" material on social media, it's expanded to denote "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” That's right, we're talkin' about all the AI ads and dumbass videos on our social devices 24/7. Amusing minutia and mind-numbing clickbait. Pets singing and dancing while crying babies are distracted by slices of cheese being tossed onto their foreheads. We're talkin' ridiculousness. And yeah, we're talkin' slop. So, props for putting your finger on the pulse of what we as a people are all about, Merriam. Bravo, Webster!
But wait, it gets better. The Oxford Dictionary, while leaning in the same direction, decided to get a little more specific, singling out "rage bait" as its phrase of interest for 2025. In essence, it means "online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account." Gotta say, that definition is spot on and, if I'm being honest, I've managed to go down that rabbit hole more times than I care to admit and, yeah, anger, frustration and outrage did ensue. Even worse, the fallout from this insidious practice has lasting side effects: the inability to believe anything you see anymore. Case in point, I had to quadruple check that this Oxford/rage bait thing was even real.
And, finally, what can you say about 67? That we're talkin' numbers here and not a word? That the people over at Dictionary.com are freebasing White-Out? That this is a joke, some kind of slop? Or worse... rage bait? Nope, it's on the up-and-up. 67 (always pronounced six-seven, never sixty-seven) is the product of Gen Alpha; it's meaning as elusive as an avowed spinster during a matrimonial bouquet toss. The word is actually more of an interjection, a meaningless utterance designed to get attention and confuse elders and, at the same time, it can be used to describe something awkward, cringe, or unintentionally funny. Oh, and another take is that it means “so-so,” or “maybe this, maybe that,” often with the utterer moving the palms of their hands up and down for effect. So, yeah, it's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, on the outskirts of a conundrum, surrounded by a sea of madness.
Alright, so there it is, the word of the year. Or phrase... Or number. Take your pick. So what do we glean from this? I don't know, maybe that it's just like any other list, totally subjective and not to be taken seriously. I mean, when you think about it, how often do these "Words of the Year" even come up in conversation?... Exactly. Okay, I have more pressing matters at hand, like wending my way online through this minefield of rage bait and other slop to find just the right wine to go with this chicken and mashed potatoes dish I'm preparing. Wonderin' which one I'll pick?... six-seven (yeah, I'm doin' the palm gesture thing).