S Poddar
The word “brat” has been trending and dominating social media; it has now been chosen as Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2024. Described as having a “confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude,” the term has become a defining trend, thanks in part to pop culture influences, especially from artist Charli XCX.
The influence for this movement by Charli XCX comes from her album Brat, which more than being an album now transcends to become some cultural phenomenon. Issued June this is the pop star’s sixth studio album-one doing much more than giving the music. It gave the people a reason, the license to act as bold and unapologetic as well as entirely and crazily mad-it’s exactly what the movement has celebrated. Remises with Billie Eilish, as well as that catchy song “Guess” peaking No 1 August really made great impact in this album.
This brat trend is not restricted to music. Political campaigns began to adopt the trend, as Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign team dressed her social media image with a brat-inspired look. The reason was to attempt to make her more appealing to younger, socially engaged voters, thus indicating how much cultural currency the term has gained.
The concept of being a brat, says Charli XCX, is a mixture of mayhem and attitude. She thinks a brat is just a candid person, volatile, and will live life’s messiness with a rebellious attitude. She playfully labeled the stereotypical brat “somesome with a pack of cigs, Bic lighter, and this strappy white top-no bra.” The candid and naked view of people like her resonates with very many, especially when considered against other successful trends.
But first, there’s social media platform TikTok to place alongside the rise of brat culture. Charli came up with the phrase for her “brat girl summer,” which totally avoids any trends like that perfect “clean girl” ideal- polished, composed womanhood. The brat is instead wild, free-flowing, and maybe just a little bit sloppy-this is an ethos influenced by memories of performing in these secret underground raves for Charli. This vibe that’s carefree, hedonistic, opposes a different set of wholesome stay-at-home trends that also come up.
But beyond appearance and attitude, it represents an even more profound level of cultural rejection of hyper-curated, idealized lifestyles. It is, in effect, a celebration of messiness and embracing of highs and lows with the authenticity and energy of one being altogether rebellious.
This year’s most noteworthy words for 2024 reflect social media as much as generational trends influence. Yet another word headlining 2024 is “era,” following the pop sensation Taylor Swift’s extremely successful tour, the Eras Tour, which astonished audiences throughout the UK and into Europe. Collins explains that “an era is a phase of life or career marked by a special character,” and Taylor’s tour has made this definition popular among mainstream youth at least.
Gen Z, born in the years 1995 to 2012 and even the youngest cohort: Generation Alpha, have created much of the language which Collins has seen evolve over time. For example, “yapping” is endless chatter about nothing important at all, and “delulu” is where someone is expecting things which are unrealistic to happen. Most of its popularity stems from the fact that these two platforms, TikTok and Snapchat, are rather popular.
Even in a year dominated by significant global elections, only one political term has made it onto the list: “supermajority.” Defined as a legislative majority large enough to pass laws without much opposition, this word gained traction around the time of the UK general election in July.
In a nutshell, the 2024 list of Collins Dictionary indicates that language is still evolving along with the shifting cultural values, music, politics, and the ever-changing world of the digital world. The fact that terms such as “brat” find their way into the public discourse highlights how words encapsulate whole movements in relation to how younger generations seek to express and redefine themselves.
