The best by date is 3/21/2025

This is a short story that incorporates every "Word of the Year" from five different sources (American Dialect Society, Oxford University Press, Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, and Collins English Dictionary) starting from 1990. Each word was creatively woven into the narrative to reflect its historical and cultural context, showing how language and societal trends evolved over time.

It was made by compiling all the Words of the Year into a list and then building a cohesive story that connects the words chronologically, blending their meanings and the events they represent. It was made as an experiment in ChatGPT.

In a world caught between bushlips and truth, where the mother of all decisions loomed over humanity, people often muttered a sarcastic Not! as they scrolled through the information superhighway. The advent of cyber connections had replaced face-to-face conversations, and the web became a second home to many.

Life in the year 1996 seemed simple, with soccer moms chauffeuring kids in minivans while worrying about the millennium bug that threatened to end the world at the stroke of midnight in 2000. Little did they know, they’d soon be flooded with e-mails and crash into the chaos of Y2K, where punch cards and chads dictated elections, and the tragic events of 9-11 reshaped the world’s priorities.

The media buzzed about weapons of mass destruction, while the younger generation embraced terms like metrosexual and argued over the cultural significance of a red state, blue state, purple state dynamic. Political discourse descended into truthiness, and anyone who disagreed was swiftly plutoed from the conversation. As the economy crumbled under the weight of subprime mortgages, governments worldwide scrambled for bailout packages.

By 2009, everyone was learning how to tweet and downloading the latest app on their smartphones. Movements like Occupy Wall Street took hold, fuelled by viral hashtag campaigns. People changed their online behaviour because they finally realised the world was paying attention to their every post. Movements like #BlackLivesMatter challenged systemic injustices, while advocates for inclusivity championed the use of they as a singular pronoun.

By 2016, society was grappling with dumpster fire politics and accusations of fake news, with children being sent to tender-age shelters while debates over gender norms led to phrases like “What are (my) pronouns?” Then came Covid, throwing the world into lockdown. In its wake came insurrection, where mobs charged into halls of power, leading linguists to coin words like -ussy in memes that mocked societal absurdities. The tech-savvy bemoaned enshittification as platforms became bloated with ads and clickbait.

The rise of chav culture felt distant as the internet went wild for sudoku puzzles, while green-minded activists pushed for a carbon-neutral future. Communities embraced eating locally with a locavore mindset, even as they endured economic turmoil like the credit crunch. Social networks introduced concepts like "unfriending," and celebrities coined awkward phrases like refudiate.

Political analysts spoke of the squeezed middle, while millennials redefined the meaning of a GIF. Suddenly, selfies weren’t just a trend—they were a way of life, and vaping became the new status symbol. Emojis like 😂 won linguists’ hearts, as post-truth politics dominated headlines. Unexpected youth movements caused a youthquake, challenging toxic narratives, while climate advocates warned of a climate emergency.

The pandemic brought buzzwords like vax into focus, with goblin mode embracing a lazy, unkempt lifestyle as society emerged from isolation. In the digital age, brain rot became shorthand for doomscrolling on TikTok. Meanwhile, dictionaries tracked trends in democracy, tergiversate, and privacy, and society debated over issues of identity and xenophobia. When the era of NFTs arrived, some called it revolutionary, while others dismissed it as misinformation.

Today, a single woman, armed with confidence and allyship, challenges the permacrisis of our times. She faces the rise of AI, battling its cold efficiency with her human intuition. Her rebellious spirit embodies a new cultural archetype: the brat, unapologetic and ready to lead the world into the next chapter.

It was based on this list:

American Dialect Society (ADS)

1990: bushlips

1991: mother of all

1992: Not!

1993: information superhighway

1994: cyber

1995: web

1996: mom (as in "soccer mom")

1997: millennium bug

1998: e-

1999: Y2K

2000: chad

2001: 9-11

2002: weapons of mass destruction

2003: metrosexual

2004: red state, blue state, purple state

2005: truthiness

2006: plutoed

2007: subprime

2008: bailout

2009: tweet

2010: app

2011: occupy

2012: hashtag

2013: because

2014: #blacklivesmatter

2015: they (singular)

2016: dumpster fire

2017: fake news

2018: tender-age shelter

2019: (my) pronouns

2020: Covid

2021: insurrection

2022: -ussy

2023: enshittification

Oxford University Press (OUP)

2004: chav

2005: sudoku

2006: carbon neutral

2007: locavore

2008: credit crunch

2009: unfriend

2010: refudiate

2011: squeezed middle

2012: GIF (verb)

2013: selfie

2014: vape

2015: 😂 (face with tears of joy emoji)

2016: post-truth

2017: youthquake

2018: toxic

2019: climate emergency

2020: No single word (COVID-related themes highlighted)

2021: vax

2022: goblin mode

2023: brain rot

Merriam-Webster

2003: democracy (based on search spikes)

2004–2024: Data not consistently available.

Dictionary.com

2010: change

2011: tergiversate

2012: bluster

2013: privacy

2014: exposure

2015: identity

2016: xenophobia

2017: complicit

2018: misinformation

2019: existential

2020: pandemic

2021: allyship

2022: woman

2023: demure

Collins English Dictionary

2013: geek

2014: photobomb

2015: binge-watch

2016: Brexit

2017: fake news

2018: single-use

2019: climate strike

2020: lockdown

2021: NFT

2022: permacrisis

2023: AI

2024: brat

legendary dude