My Word: Words, wars, and signs of the times

It might be my age or “the age” – the times in which we live. I’m once again lost for words. Or suffering from culture shock.

Like Christmas celebrations abroad or Israeli supermarkets selling Hanukkah donuts, the date when dictionaries, newspapers, and other outlets publish their “Word of the Year” has started unseasonably early. This week the Collins Dictionary and publishing company revealed its choice for 2024.

From the Collins’ website, please welcome: “‘Brat’, newly defined in 2024 as ‘characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.’”

Explaining its choice, Collins declared: “Inspired by the Charli XCX album [I admit I had to Google it], ‘brat’ has become one of the most talked about words of 2024. 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.”

CLEARLY, THE global Collins wordsmiths did not have the type of summer that we did here in Israel. In fact, last summer barely ended. October 7, 2023, changed everything for us.

The massive Hamas terrorist atrocity – the invasion of the southern communities, the murder of some 1,200, the wounding of some 5,000, and the kidnapping of some 220, of whom 101 remain in captivity, dead or alive – each left a permanent scar. 

The unfathomable cruelty of the surprise attack – the torture, rape, beheadings, and burning to death of victims of all ages – can’t and shouldn’t be forgotten. Similarly, the war on multiple fronts, with tragic losses of soldiers of all ages and all walks of life, continues to haunt us. 

And then there are the 25,000 rockets and killer drones launched from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and directly from Iran. These, too, left their physical and psychological mark.

What is Israel's Word of the Year?

Indeed, “drone” – “katbam,” in Hebrew – might be my Word of the Year. The Hebrew acronym for “unmanned aerial vehicle” has definitely penetrated our collective radar and lives more than “brat.”

Other words shortlisted by Collins similarly showed we’re not on the same page: “looksmaxxing,” defined as “attempting to maximize the attractiveness of one’s physical appearance”; “brainrot,” an “inability to think clearly caused by excessive consumption of low-quality online content” or “material, especially on the Internet, that is not intellectually stimulating”; “delulu,” slang for deluded, “utterly mistaken or unrealistic in one’s ideas or expectations”; and “rawdogging,” now generally used to describe “the act of undertaking an activity without preparation, support, or equipment,” particularly relating to travel. Due to my age and this being a family paper, I’ll spare you the older definition from which it derived.

The self-explicatory “anti-tourism” made it to the shortlist as did “romantasy, a literary genre that combines romantic fiction with fantasy,” along with “yapping, informal, talking at length, especially about inconsequential matters.”

It was reportedly inspired by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to the UK and Europe this year. I’m from a different era to the mega-performer and Swifties; I remember the tour mainly for the cancellation in Vienna due to a thwarted ISIS attack. Who said the show must go on?

Incidentally, “Swiftie, “a fan of Taylor Swift,” made it to the Oxford Word of the Year shortlist for 2023, but was beaten by “rizz,” short for “charisma. I somehow survived the first 10 months of this year without using the word rizz even once, until now. 

I can’t wait to see what Oxford and other lexicographers produce for this year’s Word of the Year. The top of the Collins list last year was “AI” (artificial intelligence). It was an apt choice in a world that increasingly feels unreal or surreal.

Of course, in a week like this one, when the US presidential elections took place, nothing is devoid of politics. Even “brat,” it turns out. The BBC has described Kamala Harris’s team giving her social media “a brat rebrand, to attract younger voters at the start of her campaign this summer.”

The only overtly political word on the list is “Supermajority,” defined by Collins as a “large majority in a legislative assembly that enables a government to pass laws without effective scrutiny.” It reportedly became popular around the UK general election in July but it might be longer lasting and more useful than “brat,” given the current state of the ostensibly democratic world.

The Guardian reported: “Alex Beecroft, managing director of Collins, said that ‘while “supermajority” does the heavy lifting in a year of political upheaval in the UK and around the world, the big disruptors in language have come from different sources. With many of this year’s notable words being popularized by generations Z and Alpha, we can confidently say this is the most “brat” word of the year list ever!’”

When bad words are reserved only for Jews and Israelis, we need to redefine “blood libel” and “chutzpah.”

The war on Israel (and the West) has caused linguistic contortions. In October 2023, just days after the worse attack on Jews since the Holocaust, BBC world affairs correspondent John Simpson explained in his own words why the “BBC doesn’t call Hamas militants ‘terrorists.’” Despite using the words “appalling atrocities,” to describe Hamas’s actions that terrible day, Simpson cites “the BBC’s founding principles.”

“Terrorism is a loaded word, which people use about an outfit they disapprove of morally. It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”

Well, I’m proud of morally disapproving of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and ISIS for that matter. The word “terrorism” seems a lot less loaded when you’re facing a jihadist with a loaded gun. Fortunately, when Britain and the Allies fought and beat the Nazis, they weren’t shackled by such double-think, or we wouldn’t have got this far.

The language of hate being employed on campuses around the world is truly frightening: “Rape is resistance” is one stunning example. I have only words of praise for those students – Jews and their too-few allies – who are bravely facing this and fighting back. Antisemitism does not “depend on the context,” as the former heads of leading American universities tried to convince us last year.

Similarly, I salute the thousands of Israeli students who are juggling studies with reserve duty. They are as far from being brats as you can get, and they inspire admiration and hope.

What words do Israelis find annoying?

AS SOMEONE who works and plays with words, I like to follow the Academy of the Hebrew Language. One recent post on their Facebook page caught my eye and captured my mood. The Academy asked what words people find most annoying. 

Among the close to 5,000 comments were several English words and phrases that “literally” crept in. “Yakira,” “dear” or “darling” (feminine form), also featured in several posts, more an annoying affectation than affectionate.

I added my tuppence-worth, or shnekel (“shnei shekalim” – two shekels), starting with: “Zeh me’atger”– “it’s challenging.” It sometimes seems that nothing is ever just “difficult” anymore, only the euphemistic “challenging” or “complicated” (“murkav,” in Hebrew.) 

There is a place for the more optimistic “challenging” – implying that someone is going to grow from the experience – but sometimes we struggle for words, and sometimes we struggle to breathe. There are times when things are – objectively – hard: Not just a challenge.

Fortunately, I’ve been around long enough to know that “Brat summers” is a passing phrase and phase. King Solomon held the principle, “Gam zeh ya’avor,” “This too shall pass.” Immortal words of wisdom.