From âRage Baitâ to âAura Farming,â Explaining Oxfordâs Word of the Year and Its Finalists Defining these terms and why theyâre significant this year. Share on Reddit Copy Article Every year, the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary announce their Word of the Year that encapsulates the year that was. Past years have included the words âbrain rotâ and ârizzâ based on votes from language experts. Other winners like âpodcastâ and âemojiâ have become part of our everyday lexicon. So what word did Oxford Word of the Year voters highlight for this year? âRage Baitâ and the Finalists The Oxford University Press, which publishes the dictionary, announced that its Word of the Year this year is ârage bait,â which it defines as a noun meaning: âOnline content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account.â Think of all those social media posts you see that make you want to respond with anger, and youâll understand why rage bait is so enragingâand why Oxford liked it for its Word of the Year. You May Also Like: Add Mental Floss as a preferred news source ! âRage baitâ had competition from two other words that tried to hack their way to the top of the list. Another word related to social media made the list of finalists for Oxford's Word of the Year. âAura farmingâ is a noun thatâs defined as âThe cultivation of an impressive, attractive, or charismatic persona or public image by behaving or presenting oneself in a way intended subtly to convey an air of confidence, coolness, or mystique,â according to the Oxford University Press. While aura farming doesnât include social media in its definition, the Oxford University Press included an example of a social media influencer when announcing the word as a finalist on Instagram: âBiohackâ was also a finalist, defined as âan attempt to improve or optimize one's physical or mental performance, health or longevityâ using means like diet, exercise, drugs, or even technological devices. But Isnât Rage Bait Two Words? You may think that ârage baitâ is cheating a bit since it's two words and not one, but Oxford University Press has an explanation. It defines the Word of the Year as a âsingular word or expression,â so words like ârage baitâ or âbrain rot,ââthe latter of which was 2024âs Word of the Yearâstill count. In fact, three of the past six years have had two-word âwordsâ to express what Oxford University Press considered the best word for that year. The year 2020 was a big exception when the organization decided one wordâor a two-wordâWord of the Year was not enough to encapsulate such an unprecedented year that included the COVID-19 pandemic among other notable events. âThe English language, like all of us, has had to adapt rapidly and repeatedly this year,â explained the Oxford University Press at the time. âGiven the phenomenal breadth of language change and development during 2020, Oxford Languages concluded that this is a year which cannot be neatly accommodated in one single word.â Loading recommendations… Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations Related Tags Source: https://www.mentalfloss.com/language/words/oxford-word-of-year-explained