By Brian Campued
Did you, for a split second, have eye contact with your crush, and suddenly imagine marrying them and starting a family? Or are you guilty of thinking that a person likes you just because they constantly view your stories and react to your posts on social media? If yes, then have your friends ever told you that you were being “delulu”?
Thanks to this generation’s delulu mindset dominating online content across the globe, the slang term has been shortlisted for the 2024 Word of the Year of Collins Dictionary.
Delulu, derived from the word delusional, is an adjective to describe someone’s “unrealistic” ideas or expectations about their problems or other people. Collins refers to delulu as a “reduplication of deluded.”
So when somebody’s being called a delulu, it can mean that they are probably clinging to a rose-colored version of reality and ignoring evidence that does not fit their chosen narrative. But is it also fun to dream big—having life goals of personal development and, perhaps, manifesting that you can actually achieve something?
However, delulu is not the word of the year, according to Collins: that would be “brat”.
While most people use brat to refer to a person, usually a youngster, whose behavior annoys them, the adjective has developed a different meaning in 2024—“characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.”
Inspired by the title of pop star Charlie XCX’s latest album, Collins said “brat” was one of the most talked about words this year.
“More than a hugely successful album, ‘brat’ is a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally, and ‘brat summer’ established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life,” Collins said on its website.
According to the Agence France-Presse, Charli XCX described the brat as someone “who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes, who feels herself, but then also maybe has a breakdown, but kind of parties through it.”
Other words included in Collins’ Word of the Year 2024 shortlist are:
- Brainrot (noun) – an inability to think clearly caused by excessive consumption of low-quality online content
- Era (noun) – a period of one’s life or career that is of a distinctive character
- Looksmaxxing (noun) – attempting to maximize the attractiveness of one’s physical appearance
- Rawdogging (noun) – the act of undertaking an activity without preparation, support, or equipment
- Anti-tourism (noun) – opposition to or action against large-scale tourism
- Romantasy (noun) – a literary genre that combines romantic fiction with fantasy
- Supermajority (noun) – a large majority in a legislative assembly that enables a government to pass laws without effective scrutiny
- Yapping (noun) – talking at length, especially about inconsequential matters
(with report from Agence France-Presse)
—iro
