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What’s in a word? The word by which we call a rose may mean a dull flower tomorrow, as words and meanings continue to split and meet in different ways, in minds and times. That is the message from the passage of a word from its derogatory sense in the traditional lexicon to the other shore of meaning in a short time, as announced by a reputed dictionary. The Collins Dictionary has voted ‘brat’ as the word of 2024, reforming it and ushering it into decent company. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning of the word as “a child, typically one that is badly behaved.” Collins has transformed the rude and offensive child into someone “characterised by a confident, independent and hedonistic attitude.” A pop star used the word in a positive sense, in a music album, and endorsed Kamala Harris as a brat. Collins has noted 'brat' as a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally. This shows words have hopes of redemption even from four-letter infamy.
Other neologisms in the dictionary’s final list for the word of the year title were anti-tourism, delulu, meaning unrealistic in expectations, brainrot, yapping, supermajority, romantasy, and looksmaxxing, meaning looks to boost confidence. Some of these words may be seen to have a ring of ideas and attitudes natural in the right-wing ecosystem or in a world shaped by social media. But the point is that words evolve, and new words rise, through natural selection or survival strategies. Some gain new meanings or just exist in other forms, and sometimes, meanings chase words just as characters search for lives to present or represent. It is said that when two words meet, it is not a third word but a star that is born. But the words, like stars, change into supernovas, turn into dead stars, or face extinction.
Languages remain lively and healthy when they adapt to the changing environment, as living species do. They are born on the tongue and are felt in the body before moving to the paper but over time, there is many a slip between the lip and the paper. They remain the building blocks of the world we live in, and when the world changes, they too change. A language should be flexible and adaptive and should mirror the world, absorbing new coinages, changing words, and creating new meanings. English remains a world language because it keeps evolving, adding or shedding words and mixing meanings and words. Its lexicons track them and tell how the words move in sync with the world. There is a message in it for all languages.