It’s a total washout

When the Oxford Word of the Year is announced and I have never even heard of it, I know that I’ve been left behind. The word for 2023 was ‘rizz’. Rizz? If you know what it means and use it often, then I congratulate you for having your ear to the ground, your finger on the pulse and your eye on the ball. Or maybe just for being young. I think it’s quite an ugly word, unlike fizz or whiz or even ‘tis, and I’m not planning to use it ever, even though I now know that it’s short for charisma.

Apparently, 300,000 people vote on the word that best sums up the year, but I’ve never been consulted. I suspect that the public shouldn’t be given a vote on these things anyway, they’re not to be trusted. The short list also included ‘Swiftie’, ‘de-influencing’, ‘prompt’, ‘beige flag’, ‘parasocial’, ‘heat dome’ and ‘situationship’. Some of these I recognise, some I can guess at, but what is a beige flag? I thought it might be a half-hearted surrender, but a quick google search reveals that it’s like a red flag in a relationship, but duller. It’s an odd quirk in your partner, like being obsessed with tanks or using a spreadsheet to monitor the world’s rainfall – not overly concerning, but a tad unusual.

‘Parasocial’ is a really interesting word, coined by sociologists decades ago. It refers to a one-sided relationship between a person and someone they don’t know, such as a fictional character or a celebrity. It’s more commonly used now to describe the relationship between social media personalities and their followers, which can tip over from a healthy interest to an unhealthy obsession. Interesting, but I can’t imagine it coming up too often in general conversation.

I’ve also never managed to use ‘goblin mode’, which was Oxford’s word for 2022 and looks suspiciously like two words to me. I think it’s the opposite of living your best life – you lounge on the sofa, unwashed and unkempt, watching rubbish TV and eating junk food. A year later, I have never heard anyone say it, in person or on screen, nor have I read it. In 2021 it was ‘vax’ – now that I understand. No word was chosen for 2020 because it was too awful even to be contemplated. I suppose I could give in and download TikTok, then I’d be familiar with all these things, but it seems like a lot of effort for little return. And I might start to develop unhealthy parasocial relationships.

^{The River Kennet running amok in Newbury}

I’ve just looked up Merriam-Webster’s word for 2023 and they chose ‘authentic’. At least I know what that means. ‘Rizz’ also got an honourable mention. I wonder what will be chosen for 2024. Although the year is only a week old, looking at the flooding all around us, I would have to vote for ‘washout’. Once the waters recede, it can still be used in its figurative sense. It’s like ‘omnishambles’ (the word for 2012) – a word for all seasons.