Brain rot: A malady of our times

Oxford University Press (OUP), the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, has named brain rot as the word of the year. 

It is defined as deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, mainly as the result of overconsumption of material considered to be trivial or unchallenging.

Though the term brain rot is nearly 170 years old, it is now being used to describe mindless consumption of low-quality, low-value content found on social media.

Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said that brain rot in its modern sense, "speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time."

With social media having acquired a vice-like grip over our lives, we end up consuming excessive amounts of such low-quality online content. A major part of our day is spent scrolling Instagram, X, Facebook and other social media feeds.

Smartphones have proved to be a force multiplier in providing access to social media anytime and almost anywhere. These devices have become so deeply entwined with lives that it is the first thing we look at after waking up and the last thing we check before crashing at night.

TS Eliot’s Prufrock had claimed “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”. Had Eliot been alive today, he might have substituted Instagram reels and ‘likes’ for coffee spoons.

OUP claims that though the first recorded use of ‘brain rot’ was in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, published in 1854, where he attacks people for not making enough mental and intellectual efforts while interpreting complex ideas.

However, the coinage later fell into obscurity. After languishing in the wilderness of dictionaries and thesaurus for over a century, the term has now suddenly gained traction in the digital era.

It has now caught the fancy of Gen Z and Alpha generations, who grew up amid the social media. OUP claims the usage of this term increased 230 per cent in its frequency from 2023 to 2024.

Brain rot beat five other phrases or words on the dictionary publisher's shortlist, namely demure, lore, slop, romantasy and dynamic pricing. More than 37,000 people voted to help choose the winner.

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