I love our language and the creativity that comes with wordplay, phrase evolution and expressions of the vernacular.
I have never been one to think old-school words are always better and must be kept in use, although the romance and feel of so many of them appeal to me.
As a communication academic, I believe clarity and the meaning in the message are more important than preserving the way things once were.
Nothing in culture was ever advanced by looking backwards, after all.
As a word lover, I am in clover in December, when announcements are made about the Word of the Year for different dictionaries and nations.
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Recently, it was announced that for 2023, the UK Oxford Dictionary had declared the word ‘rizz’ the one above all others – the best, the pick, the bomb diggity.
The creation is a shortening of the word charisma, without its front and back.
It is apparently in regular use out there in cool people land and it peaked in June after a Buzzfeed interview with Spider-Man star Tom Holland, who claimed he had no rizz whatsoever.
Rizz: in 2023, some have it, some don’t and some spread the word about it.
Related column: Add some ‘rizz’ to the festive fun with word of the year
Among the shortlisted words for that reference book were: ‘prompt’ – an instruction given to an artificial intelligence program or algorithm that influences the content it generates; ‘de-influencing’ – the practice of discouraging people from buying certain products; and ‘beige flag’ – a warning signal that indicates a romantic interest is boring or lacks originality.
My favourite finalist was ‘Swiftie’ – a term for a fan of superstar songstress Taylor Swift.
Previous Oxford winners for Word of the Year were ‘vax’ and ‘youthquake’.
Last year’s Word of the Year was ‘goblin mode’ – behaviour that is unapologetically lazy or slovenly.
The US’s most-esteemed Merriam-Webster Dictionary selected ‘authentic’ for this year.
Collins Dictionary chose ‘AI’.
The Macquarie Dictionary – Australia’s official national dictionary – also shortlisted rizz this year but selected ‘cozzie livs’ – a shortening of cost of living.
We communicate increasingly in abbreviations, it seems.
These words and phrases may be a long way from the polished and posh words of yore, but there is so much to love about our glorious, ever-evolving language.
Dr Jane Stephens is a UniSC journalism lecturer, media commentator and writer.
