Language Matters | Word of the Year 2025 choices reflect how virtual our reality has become
From Oxford’s ‘rage bait’ to Macquarie Dictionary’s ‘AI slop’, 2025 WOTYs show the influence of the virtual world on our daily lives
If 2025’s zeitgeist is manifested by the various Word of the Year (WOTY) choices of dictionaries and other language-related bodies, then this year has us unequivocally positioned in the virtual world.
WOTY choices are based on a combination of usage, public vote and committee deliberation.
“Rage bait” is Oxford’s WOTY for 2025. The term, which denotes something that deliberately annoys others, was first coined in 2002 to describe a driver’s reaction to being flashed at by another driver requesting to pass them.
Its use has since expanded to refer to online content designed to be frustrating, provocative or offensive, typically posted to increase engagement with a particular web page or social media account. The term’s usage tripled in the past year.
Such low-quality content is increasingly produced by generative AI and often comprises propaganda and fake news, which fits in nicely with Macquarie Dictionary’s 2025 WOTY – “AI slop” – and those of Merriam-Webster and The Economist, who went with simply “slop”.
