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Trademark battle over "Very demure, very mindful"
Jools Lebron, a Chicago-based content creator, gained fame when her "very demure, very mindful" catch phrase went viral. The quote was quickly embraced by other influencers, celebrities and politicians but when Jools went to trademark the phrase, she learned someone had beat her to it. A man reportedly filed an intent to trademark for use in marketing, advertising and promotion. Despite the timing of the trademark applications, Alexandra Roberts, a law and media professor at Northeastern University, says that Lebron can still challenge the trademark.
As the end of the year nears, language experts have unveiled this year's "Words of the Year," capturing the cultural shifts and societal conversations that defined the past months.
Famous dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, Dictionary.com and Oxford, compiled lists of the top words used, capturing the evolving language trends.
According to Oxford, the word of the year is intended to be "a word or expression that reflects a defining theme from the past 12 months."
From "demure" to "manifest," here’s a closer look at the words that shaped 2024.
Dictionary.com’s Words of the Year
Can you define "demure?"
If you couldn’t at the beginning of the year, chances are you can now after the word took the internet by storm this summer.
It was searched for and talked about so much that Dictionary.com made it its 2024 Word of the Year. Dictionary.com said demure experienced a "meteoric" rise in usage in 2024.
RELATED: Very demure: Dictionary.com chooses 2024 Word of the Year
"Between January and the end of August, this term saw a nearly 1,200% increase in usage in digital web media alone," the company said.
The ranking was also thanks to the "very demure, very mindful" video trend.
Other words on its list included:
- Brainrot
- Brat
- Extreme weather
- Midwest nice
- Weird
Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year
Merriam-Webster also announced its 2024 Word of the Year: polarization.
Search volume on Merriam-Webster.com throughout the year reflected the desire of Americans to better understand the complex state of affairs in our country and around the world, the publishing company said.
RELATED: ‘Polarization’ is Merriam-Webster’s 2024 word of the year
Merriam-Webster defines polarization as "division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes."
Other words on their list included:
- Demure
- Fortnight
- Totality
- Resonate
- Allision
- Weird
- Cognitive
- Pander
- Democracy
Cambridge Dictionary’s Words of the Year
Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year was one of the most viewed words of 2024. It made the jump from the self-help community to mainstream media, with more than 130,000 searches for the word on the Cambridge Dictionary website.
The 2024 Cambridge Dictionary word of the year was manifest.
While the words meaning has changed since the 1300s, the dictionary said it is now described as using "specific practices to focus your mind on something you want, to try to make it become a reality."
RELATED: Cambridge Dictionary's 2024 word of the year is ...
Celebrities and "manifesting influencers" alike have helped the word gain popularity. The 2024 Paris Olympics and the Paralympics brought new attention to the word, with gold medal winners like Simone Biles, Ezra Frech and Mallory Weggemann crediting manifestation for their crowning achievements.
Sabrina Carpenter has also been called a "manifesting queen" for making it on stage with Taylor Swift for the Eras Tour. In addition Dua Lipa once said she manifested a crowd of more than 100,000 for her performance at the Glastonbury Festival.
Other finalists on their list included:
- brat
- ecotarian
- Resilience
Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year
Oxford University Press said "brain rot" was the Oxford dictionary’s Word of the Year. The press said the evocative phrase "gained new prominence in 2024," with its frequency of use increasing 230% from the year before.
A man holds a phone, displaying word of ''brain rot'', as the Oxford Dictionary has chosen the word, which refers to the unnecessary and entertaining use of social media, as the word of the year in London, United Kingdom on December 2, 2024. (Credit: …
Oxford defines brain rot as "the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging."
RELATED: Oxford names 'brain rot' as 2024 word of the year: What does it mean?
"Brain rot" was chosen by a combination of public vote and language analysis by Oxford lexicographers.
The five other finalists included:
- demure
- Slop
- dynamic pricing
- Romantasy
- lore.