Dictionary.com got there first, posting their Word of the Year in late October. Guess they figured that, even with 2+ months left in the year, they'd seen enough. Their WOTY was six seven - alternatively 67, which is not technically a word - and which, thanks to my having no contact whatsoever with middle-
Judiciously, to make sure that no latecomer word snuck in and went viral, Merriam-Webster waited until mid-December to announce their pick, which was "slop."
We define slop as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” All that stuff dumped on our screens, captured in just four letters: the English language came through again.
The flood of slop in 2025 included absurd videos, off-kilter advertising images, cheesy propaganda, fake news that looks pretty real, junky AI-written books, “workslop” reports that waste coworkers’ time… and lots of talking cats. People found it annoying, and people ate it up.
It goes without saying that when it comes to slop in particular, and AI in general, I'm team annoyed. And a bit afraid. And, as we used to say back in the day, grossed out.
I've managed to turn off AI search on my laptop, so I don't see those little search summaries that often provide "information" that's just plain wrong. Wait! That celebrity wasn't born in Boston; he's from Worcester. Hold on, that restaurant has been closed for three years. Come again, that medical advice you're doling out contradicts itself.
Admittedly I do sometimes chuckle a bit at the AI videos. And the crazy AI "mistake" memes. But I'd rather do without the occasional chuckle and do away with slop entirely.
(Don't get me going on AI Assistant asking me whether I want a summary of a "long document" that's all of 11 pages long, god help us. A rant for another day...)
Anyway, I'm good with slop as the Word of the Year.
The runners up were:
Gerrymander, which was named for a long-ago Massachusetts governor (also a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, and James Madison's VP) who tried to create voting districts that favored his party. The current meaning of the word gerrymander is, I believe, "an election district creation tactic that is okie dokie if done to favor Republican candidates, and unconstitutional if done to favor Democrats." Or something.
Touch grass is something we could all do with a little more of. Turn off the noise, turn off the slop. Take a walk, step in a puddle, talk to someone in real life. I'm all for it!
Performative anything “made or done for show (as to bolster one's own image or make a positive impression on others)” is somethig we could all do with a lot less of. In 2026, here's to more doing and less performativing.
Tariff also made the short list. If only the president owned an economics text or - how about this - a dictionary. Then he could look up the meaning. Ain't gonna happen, but nonetheless...
Six seven was another short-lister for Merriam-Webster. As kids used to say before they came up with six seven: WHAT EVER.
Conclave is a word that needs no introduction to someone steepedin Catholicism, let alone anyone who saw the 2024 movie of that name, which I much enjoyed, right down to the LOL ending. But with the death of Pope Francis, interest in conclaving heightened. (Side note: he may not be my full-to-the-brim cup of tea, but I'm really liking Pope Leo.)
And - ta-da - Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg which got a lot of lookups this past summer when a 5-foot-long water monitor lizard escaped from captivity in a home not far from Webster Lake, also known as
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. Since this body of water is located in Worcester County, every local kid tried to recite this one from memory at some point in their childhoood. I never knew anyone that got much past the "manchauggagogg" part. Mostly this made the list thanks to the lake's alt name, Webster.
The monitor lizard, btw, wasn't found in Lake Charg... He was apprehended on land in nearby Connecticut.
And, while the dictionary's named after its founder, Noah Webster, the Lake is named after statesman Daniel Webster.
Anyway, Merriam-Webster has now spoken. Slop it is.
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