The Oxford Word of the Year 2023 has rizz
Telugu super news,Monday, 4 th December 2023 (Oxford, UK and New York, NY) – By issuing a call-out to the public to have their say on this year’s Word of the Year, Oxford University Press (OUP) has sparked debate and discussion around language for a second year running. After
asking the public to refine a shortlist of eight words, all chosen to reflect the mood, ethos, or
preoccupations of the year, more than 30,000 word lovers across the world had their say.
OUP is pleased to announce that the Oxford Word of the Year 2023 is rizz.
Rizz was chosen by the
language experts at OUP as an interesting example of how language can be formed, shaped, and shared within communities, before being picked up more widely. It
speaks to how younger generations create spaces—online or in person—where they own and
define the language they use. From activism to dating and wider culture, as Gen Z comes to
have more impact on society, differences in perspectives and lifestyle play out in language,
too.
The Oxford Word of the Year is a word or expression that reflects the past twelve months in
some way, having potential as a term of lasting cultural significance or providing a snapshot of
social history. Supported by evidence of real language usage, OUP’s language experts track
candidates as they emerge throughout the year via the constantly updated Oxford Monitor
Corpus of English, analysing frequency statistics and identifying words or expressions that
have been recently added to the language (neologisms). Previous words
UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00.01 Monday 4 December 2023
chosen by OUP have included vax (2021), climate emergency (2019), and, by public vote for
the first time, goblin mode (2022).
This year, through head-to-head competitions over a four-day voting period, a shortlist of
eight worthy contenders was narrowed down by the public to four finalists: rizz, Swiftie,
prompt, and situationship. Language experts at OUP considered the corpus data, the votes,
and public commentary around the words to choose Oxford’s Word of the Year for 2023.
Speaking about this year’s Word of the Year campaign and the winning word, Casper
Grathwohl, President, Oxford Languages, says, “It has been incredible to see the public once
again enjoying being a part of the Word of the Year selection. Witnessing thousands of people
debate and discuss language like this really highlights the power it has in helping us to
understand who we are, and process what’s happening to the world around us.
Given that last year ‘goblin mode’ resonated with so many of us after the pandemic, it’s
interesting to see a contrasting word like rizz come to the forefront, perhaps speaking to a
prevailing mood of 2023, where more of us are opening ourselves up after a challenging few
years and finding confidence in who we are.
Rizz is a term that has boomed on social media and speaks to how language that enjoys
intense popularity and currency within particular social communities—and even in some cases
lose their popularity and become passé—can bleed into the mainstream. This is a story as old
as language itself, but stories of linguistic evolution and expansion that used to take years can
now take weeks or months. The spike in usage data for rizz goes to prove that words and
phrases that evolve from internet culture are increasingly becoming part of day-to-day
vernacular and will continue to shape language trends in the future.”
