Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — Australia’s oldest dictionary of Australian English has selected “enshittification,” a slang term describing the decline of online products and services, as its Word of the Year for 2024.
The Macquarie Dictionary, widely regarded as the standard reference for Australian English, announced the choice citing the term’s resonance with the growing sense that things, particularly in the digital world, are getting worse.
“This word captures what so many of us feel is happening in the world and in so many aspects of our lives right now,” the dictionary’s judging committee said in a statement on its website.
The dictionary defines enshittification as “the gradual degradation of a service or product, caused by declining quality, particularly on digital platforms, and driven by the pursuit of profit.” The term beat out contenders such as “looksmaxxing,” “overtourism,” and “sigma.”
Honorable mentions included “the right to disconnect”—a reference to laws that allow employees to ignore work communications outside office hours—and “rawdogging”, the practice of enduring long-haul flights without electronic entertainment or reading material.
According to The Guardian, the term “enshittification” was coined by British-Canadian author Cory Doctorow in a 2022 essay criticizing the decline of digital platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In a follow-up blog post in 2023, Doctorow expanded on the concept, outlining the “death cycle” of platforms: “First, they’re good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to strip all the value for themselves.”
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In 2023, the Macquarie Dictionary selected “cozzie livs,” a playful abbreviation of “cost of living,” as its Word of the Year. Macquarie is among a number of dictionaries worldwide that annually select a Word of the Year, reflecting cultural and linguistic trends across the globe.
(Raidi/Agung)
