Australia’s oldest dictionary of Australian English has chosen “enshittification” – a slang term referring to the deterioration of products and services online – as the word of 2024.
Macquarie Dictionary, which is widely considered the standard reference on Australian English, said on Tuesday that the term tapped into a widespread feeling that things were getting worse, especially in the digital world.
“This word captures what many of us feel is happening to the world and to so many aspects of our lives at the moment,” the dictionary’s judging committee said in a statement on its website.
Macquarie Dictionary said the term – which it defined as “gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking” – beat out shortlist picks such as “looksmaxxing”, “overtourism” and “sigma”.
The committee named the “right to disconnect” and “rawdogging” – referring, respectively, to a law granting employees the right to not respond to bosses outside of work hours and the practice of taking a long-haul flight without electronic entertainment or reading material – as honourable mentions.
Canadian-British author Cory Doctorow coined “enshittification” in a 2022 essay decrying the perceived decline of digital platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
In a follow-up blog post in 2023, he expanded on the concept, describing the process by which digital platforms “die”: “First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves.”
Macquarie Dictionary last year chose “cozzie livs” – a play on “cost of living” – as its word of 2023.
Macquarie is one of a number of dictionaries worldwide that choose a word of the year.
The UK’s Oxford Dictionary is currently accepting votes from the public to narrow down a shortlist that includes “brain rot”, “demure”, and “dynamic pricing”.
