Ladies and Gentlemen, The Word of the Year is…Rizz!

Rizz named word of the year 2023 by Oxford University Press. BBC News, 3 December 2023

'Rizz' is the word of 2023 according to those nice people at the Oxford University Press. Don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t know that. Chances are you haven’t heard of rizz let alone used it in a sentence if you’re over sixteen.

Rizz is derived from the word ‘charisma’. The middle syllable, see? If you’ve got rizz, you’re charismatic, personable and able to attract sexual partners. I’ve got it in spades, obviously. So have you, I can tell. That’s just the kind of people we are. Not everyone is as lucky.

Credit for popularising rizz is being given to a YouTuber and Twitch streamer called Kai Cenat. If you’ve heard of him, congratulations. You’re officially down with the kids.

I’m officially not down with the kids. I’m officially way up above the kids, floating about on a cloud of ignorance and indifference. I hadn’t heard of rizz, I hadn’t heard of Mr Cenat, and I had to search Google to find out what Twitch was all about. Just when I’d got a handle on TikTok and Instagram, too.

Thanks for messing up my ecosystem equilibrium, Oxford University Press.

Yeah, I was watching nature documentaries on Netflix last night. Who told you?

This is what I don’t like about these word of the year things. It’s like they go out of their way to make you feel old and out of the loop. I’m not old yet, but I may be out of the loop. Perhaps not fully out, but I’m definitely on the outer edges and facing in the wrong direction.

I think it’s the wrong direction, but I'm not certain. It might be the right direction and I just don't know it. Directions and me have a difficult relationship.

But even if someone is old and out of the loop, don’t rub their nose in it! Make the loop bigger. Invite them into the loop and make it a welcoming space for everyone. Especially for people who weren't born with a sim card where their belly button should be.

You have more in common with older people than you think, my young millennial friends. You might be feeling wonderfully innovative because you’ve just created a new word. Like it’s never been done before. Yeah? Where do you think flu came from?

I mean the word, not the virus. I don’t know where the virus came from. Do I look like a virologist to you?

Flu is derived from influenza. Older people came up with that. Just like you did with rizz, we extracted the middle syllable and turned it into a word.

And what about fridge? From refrigerator, see? We had to stick a ‘d’ in the middle of that one to save the blushes of the pearl-clutchers, but the same principle applies. Again, no millennials were involved in the process.

I’m sure there are other examples, I just don’t have time to think about them right now.

I’ve been thinking about nothing else for the last five hours. Help me out, people. Stick a few examples in the comments.

Other dictionaries have also been announcing their word of the year. Collins Dictionary’s nomination is ‘AI’. That’s not even a word! It’s an abbreviation. Worse, it’s an abbreviation of two words. Seriously, Collins? Are you sure you know how this works? Go and look up the definition of ‘word’ in a good dictionary. Not your own, obviously.

You could try Merriam-Webster, America’s oldest dictionary. They went for ‘authentic’ as their word of 2023 with ‘deepfake’ as a close second. Okay, maybe still a fixation with AI, but at least neither of those are makey-uppy, abbreviated nonsense. Well done, Merriam-Webster. You’re top of the leaderboard so far, way ahead of those thickos at Collins.

‘Indict’ was also popular in the States this year thanks to you-know-who.

The smart money is going on 'convicted' being the word of the year come December 2024.

Other words that made the shortlist this year provide further evidence that nothing really changes. ‘Swiftie’, for example, means a fan of Taylor Swift. Big tickle. The Grateful Dead had their Deadheads fifty years ago. Fans of the Beatles were called Beatlemaniacs back in the day. Barry Manilow has had his Fanilows for decades. Swifties are certainly not early birds on that score.

Swifties. Early birds. You noticed that, right?

Some words are new, however. ‘De-influencing’ is the practice of discouraging people from buying or consuming material goods. It’s the opposite of what the internet ‘influencers’ do. Are these two separate groups of people or are the roles interchangeable? Do you influence on a Monday and de-influence on a Tuesday? Conflicted, much?

Sometimes I’m glad I’m floating up here on my cloud of ignorance and indifference.