DeKALB – As times change, so too does the slang that is commonly used in the mainstream.

The American Dialect Society’s (ADS) word of the year for 2024, rawdog, signifies the newest shift in mainstream slang.

Rawdog is a verb defined as “to undertake without usual protection, preparation or comfort.”

Kelly Elizabeth Wright, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained why the group chose rawdog in a press release from the ADS.

“Rawdog has recently and rapidly burst its sexual bounds to refer to engagement in any activity without the typical preparation or in stone cold sobriety,” Wright said. “In 2024 folks rawdogged flights, family dinners and final exams.”

Users of the new slang include students at NIU who said they use the terms in various ways.

English major Jordan Williams said she uses the term rawdog often.

“Rawdog is one of those rare cases where a word becomes desexualized, which I thought was pretty cool and interesting,” Williams said. “If I don’t have my headphones on a commute or don’t have my glasses on, that’s when I’m ‘rawdogging’ life.”

The ADS, a 135 year old organization dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, held its 35th annual Word of the Year vote on Jan. 6 in Philadelphia.

The ADS said the word of the year is interpreted as a “vocabulary item.” Words such as brat are not new, but may carry different meaning or context with time.

The word chosen does not have to be a completely new term, but it must be newly prominent or notable in the past year.

Looking at differences in slang across time, new words often come and go.

“Change in slang is constant,” said Betty Birner, professor of linguistics and cognitive science at NIU. “And sometimes it’s not just new words that show up, but new syntactic constructions, or new uses for old words.”

Birner said slang English is perfectly grammatical English.

“Just as someone from Boston will speak differently than someone from DeKalb will, someone using slang is making use of the resources of the English language for important social purposes – to mark who’s in and who’s out,” Birner said. “Slang is useful, fun and a valuable part of the English language.”

Slang exists to mark group membership, Birner said.

“Slang can serve to ensure that the group members – what’s called the ‘in-group’ – can understand each other,” Birner said. “While others – members of the ‘out-group’ – can’t understand them as easily.”

Montana Magsby, a junior marketing major, said she enjoys using popular slang daily such as the term “crash out.”

“Crash out is used when there’s an inconvenience, it could be very little or very serious,” Magsby said. “I love crash out. I use it about every day because it is such a real feeling when you’re at your limit and need to let it out. I love crashing out at any minor inconvenience.”

The word of the year voting event is hosted in collaboration with the Linguistic Society of America and is guided by members with expertise in the study of words. The voting process is casual and highlights that language changes are normal, ongoing and entertaining.

There were over 300 attendees who participated in the discourse and voted for the Word of the Year. Of the attendees present, there were linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, editors, students and independent scholars who focus on fields of English, foreign languages and other similar disciplines.

Some of the past words chosen by the ADS are Y2K in 1999 and chad in 2000.

The ADS voted for Word of the Year in various categories. Below are contestants and winners of some categories.

Word of the Year
Contestants:
rawdog – to undertake without usual protection, preparation or comfort
brat – someone who exudes a confident, hedonistic attitude (in the style of Charli XCX); as in brat summer
Crash out – to act irrationally or impulsively; to reach one’s limit; also crashout: a person characterized by extreme emotional reactivity
cooked – totally exhausted or broken beyond repair; humiliated; outperformed or swiftly defeated; hopeless, desperate
sanewashing – a downplaying or restating of extreme political rhetoric to make it more palatable, referring to whitewashing media coverage
yap – to talk excessively or enthusiastically (valued negatively or positively)
Winner: rawdog

Most Useful Word
Contestants:
Lock in – to enter a state of deep focus and concentration
bedrotting – the act of lying in bed and avoiding daily responsibilities
cooked – totally exhausted or broken beyond repair; humiliated; outperformed or swiftly defeated; hopeless, desperate
crashout – to act irrationally or impulsively; to reach one’s limit; also crashout: a person characterized by extreme emotional reactivity
eat – to execute, to accomplish, or completely something remarkably well, also devour
Winner: lock in

Most Likely to Succeed
Contestants:
unserious – lacking a properly serious attitude, often as a dismissive putdown
aura – charismatic presence, often associated with athletes (aura points)
girlypop – fun, trustworthy female friend (as an adj: cute, pretty or stereotypically girly)
NIL – name, image, likeness (means for student athletes to receive financial compensation)
tarrified – afraid of the consequences of excessive tariffs
Winner: unserious

Digital Word of the Year
Contestants:
brainrot – mental deterioration from consumption of media/content held to have no redeeming value; also the media itself
AI slop – content generated by artificial intelligence of little value, often intended to flood search results
cope – belief or practice that someone uses to emotionally or intellectually deal with a negative circumstance or situation
tradwife – wife who fulfills notions of traditional gender roles, often in line with the white supremacist subculture
Xit/Xodus – mass departure of users from Twitter/X
Winner: brainrot

Informal Word of the Year
Contestants:
rawdog – to undertake without usual protection, preparation or comfort
cooked – totally exhausted or broken beyond repair; humiliated; outperformed or swiftly defeated; hopeless, desperate
mewing – jaw-strengthening technique developed by British orthodontist John Mew; a do-it-yourself facial restructuring method
mog – to outdo in attractiveness or appearance; to assert dominance based on physical appearance
W – being the best of its kind or an excellent instance of something
yap – to talk excessively or enthusiastically (valued negatively or positively)
Winner: rawdog

The full list can be found on the American Dialect Society website.