Dictionary Corner's SUSIE DENT 明らかにする／漏らすs how this year's intriguing new words could come to define our age... With 'rizz', 'Swiftie' and 'parasocial' の中で the words of the year

Did 2023 find you looking for some rizz while stopping for a Swiftie? Perhaps you've given yourself a 誘発する to be a little more authentic?

For those picturing cadging a Rizla for a roll-up cig while 負かす／撃墜するing a quick drink in the pub, or giving yourself a 軽く押す／注意を引く to be more you, that's so yesterday

I have always relished the time when dictionary publishers choose their standout word of the year. They can 範囲 from the 予期しない (last year's 'goblin 方式' springs to mind: a let-it-all-hang-out approach to life) to the serious ('vax' in 2021, or 'credit crunch' from 2008), with a few light touches in between ('bovvered' made it to 最高の，を越す 位置／汚点／見つけ出す in 20 06 and a meerkatty 'simples' in 2009).

All this may seem like a silly parlour game for lexicographers, but words can 瓶／封じ込める history 同様に as any picture and each 時代's new coinages speak 容積／容量s about the 最大の関心事s of those living through it.

Take the 1920s, a time of linguistic exuberance after the end of World War I which gave us 表現s of excellence such as 'the bee's 膝s' and 'the cat's whiskers' (同様に as forgotten gems like 'the kipper's knickers' and 'the elephant's adenoids'). This period also saw the 出現 of 'boogie-woogie', '有望な young thing', 'Charleston', 'demob', 'hemline', 'perm' and 'nail varnish'. All put together, you get a vivid collage of the time.

Leap 今後 to the 1940s and the picture is clouded once again by war and deprivation. Here we find the first 記録，記録的な／記録するs of 'blitz', 'Molotov cocktail', 'Big Brother', 'nylons' (much sought after on the 黒人／ボイコット market) and 'gulag'.

Lest we think life was all 不明瞭, though, this １０年間 also saw the 入り口 of the Wonderbra, garden gnome, デオキシリボ核酸 and the bikini (although this was 指名するd after the 原子の 爆弾 実験（する）s on the Bikini Atoll; the two-piece swimsuit was thought to have a 類似して 爆発性の 影響.)

'冷静な／正味の', the adjective of 是認 that almost any 世代 can still use today, also （機の）カム into its own during the jazz 時代 of the 1940s. に向かって the end of the 20th century, life and language looked very different.

We had 'bling', for starters, 同様に as 'alcopop', 'blog', 'Botox', 'dotcom', 'Google', 'home page', 'text message', 'hotdesking' and 'having it large'.

Which brings us to this year. If the Oxford Dictionary's shortlist is anything to go by, dating was uppermost in our minds in 2023, as we continued to re-評価する our 関係s after the make-or-break years of the pandemic.

Or you may be in a 'situationship' ― a 関係 that is not yet committed. Hopefully it will blossom into something firmer, 特に given enough 'rizz' (在庫／株 image)

Of all the words on this year's shortlist, 'rizz' was the one that really 逮捕（する）d the imagination. A 縮めるing of '教祖的指導力', it 述べるs that 確かな charm or je ne sais quoi that makes a person stand out. Such is the word's success, 特に online, that it has morphed into a verb, so you can now 'rizz someone up' with a charm 不快な／攻撃, or wear 'rizz-coloured glasses' if you prioritise this form of sex 控訴，上告 above all others (在庫／株 image)

If you hadn't already spotted a 'beige 旗' in a 可能性のある suitor, you probably will now.

This is a quirky characteristic in a love 利益／興味 which isn't a 取引，協定-breaker but nothing to 誇る of, either. Perhaps they belt out TV 主題 tunes in the にわか雨 or 避ける stepping on 割れ目s in the pavement ― you don't 正確に／まさに 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる it, but nor does it 奮起させる the famous 'ick'.

Or you may be in a 'situationship' ― a 関係 that is not yet committed. Hopefully it will blossom into something firmer, 特に given enough 'rizz'.

Of all the words on this year's shortlist, 'rizz' was the one that really 逮捕（する）d the imagination. A 縮めるing of '教祖的指導力', it 述べるs that 確かな charm or je ne sais quoi that makes a person stand out. Such is the word's success, 特に online, that it has morphed into a verb, so you can now 'rizz someone up' with a charm 不快な／攻撃, or wear 'rizz-coloured glasses' if you prioritise this form of sex 控訴，上告 above all others.

かもしれない my favourite 選ぶ from Oxford's 2023 選択 was 'parasocial', a word that 述べるs the 誤った sense of intimacy many of us tend to feel に向かって celebrities.

As we watch the famous play out their lives on our 審査するs, we have a sense that we 'know' them, even feel a sense of 所有権. The word is far from new, nor does it 正確に／まさに trip off the tongue, but it fills a 重要な gap in our language as we 落ちる その上の under the （一定の）期間 of life's influencers.

From sport, we had 'Bazball'. Used to 述べる a style of play that 焦点（を合わせる）s on enjoyment and a 欠如（する） of 恐れる, its use soon 延長するd beyond cricket to embrace the idea of deviating from the normal 支配するs and 簡単に having fun.

'Nepo baby' also made an 入り口. Short for 'nepotism baby', this snarling 発明 述べるs the child of a celebrity who finds their way into the same career as their parents thanks to already having a foot in the door.

Bringing up the 後部 were 'UPF', short for the ultra-過程d food that has become the new nutritional nemesis (taking the baton from trans fats and MSG) and 'debanking', the 決定／判定勝ち（する） by a 財政上の 会・原則 to 奪う an individual of their banking 施設s because they no lon ger 控訴 its 倫理的な or political values.

Had the bank been 力／強力にするd by 知能 of the 人工的な 肉親，親類d, Farage might have （刑事）被告 Coutts of 'hallucinating', for these days the verb 言及するs to the ability of AI to perceive patterns in data that don't 存在する and 供給する 誤った （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） as a result (在庫／株 image)

The word was 押すd into a glaring スポットライト thanks to the position taken by Coutts that Nigel Farage was the wrong 肉親，親類d of celebrity and they had to get him out of there.

Had the bank been 力／強力にするd by 知能 of the 人工的な 肉親，親類d, Farage might have （刑事）被告 Coutts of 'hallucinating', for these days the verb 言及するs to the ability of AI to perceive patterns in data that don't 存在する and 供給する 誤った （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） as a result.

So, what of the words of 2024? 予報するing the 未来 of language can be a 襲う，襲って強奪する's game, but some 主題s seem 始める，決める to remain. One will surely be the wobbly 関係 between truth and lies, real news and 偽の.

As Donald Trump gears up for re-選挙, we may see more of his word confections taking a spin around social マスコミ. Few of us have forgotten 'covfefe', his 明らかに mistyped word for 'ニュース報道' which has taken on a life of its own and become a synonym for everything from 偽の news to coffee.

As he has always told us: 'I have words, I have the best words.'

AI, of course, will become a bigger feature in our lives. 科学（工学）技術 has always spawned different ways of speaking, so new vocabulary and a new grammar may 井戸／弁護士席 be on the horizon next year, and ― excitingly but also rather terrifyingly ― they may not be human in origin.

We are also likely to hear more of 'alignment', a buzzword which, like 'authentic', has crept into every 面 of our lives. Countries, companies and couples all 努力する／競う to 提携させる themselves with the 権利 '核心 values' (there's another).

Whatever 2024 brings, it's 価値（がある） remembering that the 最新の words are rarely 発明s that no one has seen the like of before.

This romantic notion of how language 発展させるs 崩壊するs when you know that only one per cent of all new coinages are spangly apparitions from the ether. The 広大な 大多数 are riffs or mashups of 存在するing words: a 過程 of repurposing that has played out since English began.

This means that, linguistically at least, there is nothing to 恐れる. In fact, when it comes to new words, there is everything to play for. They are our shop window, the 直面する of English that we love to 審議, lau gh at and moan about.

And they tell us where we're at: you only have to hear 'flapper', 'bebop', 'hula hoop', 'ladette' or 'glasnost' to 即時に picture the time they were born in.

In a hundred years, （衆議院の）議長s of the 未来 will be able to look 支援する at this century and pinpoint 正確に／まさに what was going on through the prism of its words.

It's on us to make those words worthwhile. Forget alignment, let's rizz things up while we have the chance.

• 利益／興味ing Stories About Curious Words, by Susie Dent (John Murray 圧力（をかける）, £14.99). ? Susie Dent 2023. To order a copy for £13.49 (申し込む／申し出 valid to 30/12/23; UK P&P 解放する／自由な on orders over £25) go to mailshop.co.uk/調書をとる／予約するs or call 020 3176 2937.