Rage bait, goblin mode … do words of the year have any real value?

Analysis shows obscure and barely used choices, drawn from online slang, do not stand the test of timeIf you have seen a news story declaring 2025’s chosen “word of the year” in recent weeks, you might be forgiven for asking yourself: what, another one?Depending on which dictionary you turn to, the chosen term this year was either Collins’s “vibe coding”, “parasocial” from Cambridge Dictionaries or their Oxford University Press rival’s “rage bait” – with many other selections besides. Continue reading...