"Rizz" wins over "Swiftie"
It's a bitter disappointment for the "Swifties": the self-designation of US pop star Taylor Swift's fans is currently not the most important term in the English-speaking world. Instead, the Oxford English Dictionary has chosen the term "rizz" as the word of the year 2023.
Generation Z people love "rizz". But many people over the age of 25 can't relate to the term. Now a committee of experts from Oxford University Press has chosen "rizz" as the word of the year 2023. The word describes a character trait that people may or may not possess: "rizz" is short for charisma. It means "style, charm or attractiveness and the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner".
The term can also be used as a verb. For example, "to rizz up", which means to attract, seduce or appeal to a person. It refers to a person's ability to flirt and be verbally charming. For example, with the sentence, "he's got real rizz".
According to Oxford University Press, expansions into other word types indicate that a word is gaining in meaning in the language. Accordingly, the language experts singled out "rizz" as an interesting example of how language can be formed, shaped and disseminated within communities.
More than 30,000 language lovers from all over the world selected a shortlist for the award. In the end, "rizz" beat out seven terms that had grown in popularity over the last twelve months: Also in the running were "swifties", enthusiastic fans of US singer Taylor Swift, or "situationship", an informal romantic or sexual relationship and "prompt", an instruction to an artificial intelligence program.
Post-pandemic: signs that society is opening up
President of Oxford Languages Casper Grathwohl explained the winner: "Given that 'goblin mode' resonated with so many last year after the pandemic, it's interesting to see a contrasting word like 'rizz' come to the fore, perhaps pointing to the prevailing mood of 2023 that we are opening up more and becoming more confident in ourselves after the challenging years."
The Oxford University Press committee recognizes newly created words or expressions that shape a time. At the same time, they should "have the potential to be a term of lasting cultural significance or provide a snapshot of social history," Oxford University Press said when announcing the winner.
Spider-Man talks the talk
The term became really popular in June 2023 after US actor Tom Holland - who has played Marvel's Spider-Man since 2016 - confessed in an interview with Buzzfeed that he had "no rizz at all".
However, the term "rizz" originated on social media. It spread there after the US influencer Kai Cenat used it on Twitch. More than eight million followers regularly watch Cenat play video games, talk to celebrities and play pranks on his friends. On Twitch, the influencer explained how he approaches women - and that's where "rizz" came into play.
"Rizz started with me and a couple of my friends from home," the 21-year-old said during an interview on the No Jumper podcast.
In contrast to the Oxford definition, the term for Cenat is therefore nothing to do with charisma, but rather means "play". Of course, it is normal for a term that has to do with charm and mysticism to defy explanation.
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Source: www.ntv.de
