One of my favorite parts of family gatherings is expanding my vocabulary with the help of my teenage niece. Among the many words I learned this year — in addition to “Skibidi Ohio,” which apparently ...

We were promised a song of the summer. Instead, we got brain rot summer — a handful of TikTok earworms, Coldplaygate chatter, and not much else. The monoculture, already limping, flatlined in 2025.

The term “brain rot” dates back to Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book Walden,but in the digital age, it has become Oxford University Press’ 2024 Word of the Year. With people averaging nearly seven hours ...

Ever spend a little too much time scrolling through social media or binge-watching shows and end up feeling…fuzzy? The phrase “brain rot” has exploded online, used to describe everything from too much ...

Dictionaries have selected enshittification, brain-rot and polarization as their 2024 Words of the Year. Each are depressingly apt reflections of the past 12 months. Roméo Dallaire’s latest book The ...

Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work covers anything from archaeology and the environment to technology and culture. Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work ...

The moment ‘brain rot’ entered the Oxford dictionary, it went viral. People began using it for everything. Before this, many ...

The organization counted more than 37,000 votes, analyzed language data and conducted a worldwide discussion before whittling down the list of contenders to the term “brain rot.” The usage, according ...

Michael Dwyer/AP / AP It’s not unusual for the words of influencers to gain popularity. But the influential philosopher Henry David Thoreau was born more than 200 years ago -- and now a term he’s ...

Read this if you’re feeling stuck in a scroll and crash cycle. Excessive screen time can lead to “brain rot,” a mental fog that dulls focus, memory, and reward sensitivity. Reversing this decline ...

Do you suffer from brain rot? Is scrolling on your phone for hours at a time the only thing that brings you joy? Well, it might not make you feel better, but it may make you feel less alone to know ...

What encompasses brain rot internet culture? In general, it’s the excessive consumption of repetitive, low-quality online media that contains such low standards for entertainment purposes that the ...