The year 2024 was quite the spectacle! From the Summer Olympics and Taylor Swift to the Solar Eclipse and the Ongoing Wars... still, one thing stood out for most Americans and many people around the world: the U.S. Election. Once President Biden stepped down and Kamala Harris stepped up, U.S. politics and TV ads dominated the media. No wonder a grrl needed a "brat summer" to tune out and party on.
That's why the NetLingo 2024 Word of the Year is: Brat. And like almost all online lingo, it can be spelled in all lowercase too: as in, brat.
Brat is GenZ slang for someone who says dumb things or has a breakdown of some kind, but still parties through it. Characterized by an independent, confident and hedonistic attitude, it reflects a cultural phenomenon among the young and online population and can refer to anything. It's meant to be humorous, like, "Isn't my new haircut brat?"
Coined by Charli XCX after the title of one of her albums, the British muscian declared on social media “kamala IS brat” after President Biden stepped away from the Democratic nomination in July 2024. GenZers began editing viral videos fusing brat songs with clips of Harris. The vice president’s campaign even adopted the album’s lime-green aesthetic on its social media pages during "brat summer."
All the fuss reflects a larger phenomenon and a growing trend too: the power of Entertainment. And in this day and age, You Tube and Amazon Prime are serving it up. In fact, the most searched term(s) on Google in 2024 was: "youtube" and/or "primevideo" depending on your sources! It makes sense. People continue to turn to entertainment sources to make us feel better: online media, social media, TV.
Yet all the media is not making us feel better. It's a known fact in this day and age that too much screen time is not good for people. Yet we're dominated by our phones -- even kids -- and it's all about what memes (pictures, videos, links, online content ) are going viral (think Hawk tuah girl). People are paying attention to online ideas, concepts, and phrases right now via the power of the Internet.
The expression "brat summer" was primarily used by women while having a "hot summer." We've all been overloaded with talk of the economy and Donald Trump and there's been a lot of harsh vibes, not to mention an ongoing dialouge about toxic masculinity, so I think it's time this female humor of honoring ourselves while still acting silly is the "bang for our buck" this year. Ever since the pandemic, people are still drinking in droves and bad language seems to show up online and IRL too. How about we make the 2025 New Year's Resolution:
All Good Things in Moderation.
Yes entertain yourselves however, whenever, wherever you want, yet don't over indulge so you have to party through and balance your life with other activities. All Good Things in Moderation for politics and media too: Yes let's hear about the world around us and live our authentic selves, yet meet in the middle to communicate and care for each other, so we continue to love and respect our global neighbors too. And All Good Things in Moderation for women and men: Forget the 4B movement, leave the male supremicist subculture behind... get outside and enjoy each other!
I wish everyone a Happy 2025 - to bratgrrlz and brogrammers, and to you, ...our 5.5 billion more!
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