woty 2024 (11. 956)

The namesake neologism from the British artist Charli XCX’ phenomenal studio album (which lived a life of its own over the summer) and entered into common parlance has been selected as Collins Dictionaries Word of the Year—see previously. Resonating globally, it is defined as someone having a “confident, independent and hedonistic attitude,” whereas the performer, unapologetically, interprets it a bit differently as someone who is “honest, blunt and a little bit volatile,” reflecting the records’ tracks that deal with the topics of personal strength, womanhood, addiction and vulnerability. The slimy green colour and font of the album’s cover became an easy identifier on social media and injected itself into the contentious US presidential campaign, with surprise candidate vice president Kamala Harris quickly altering her election website’s header to the recognisable theme. Other contenders under consideration were supermajority, anti-tourism, looksmaxxing (specifically male grooming, fitness and diet trends to optimise one’s appearance) and the hybrid literary genre of romantasy.