Rizz, situationship, beige flag: The (lame) Oxford words of the year and what they actually mean

Not ‘Swiftie’ being on there too

5 months ago

Every single year, Oxford University Press picks the official word of the year and it’s always the most cringe thing you’ve ever heard. It’s like they see a word they’ve never heard of mentioned once on TikTok and automatically assume it’s how every single young person speaks. Like genuinely, last year’s word was goblin mode and I’ve still not recovered from the second-hand embarrassment.

But this year’s word of the year is rizz, and no I’m not joking. But as well as the official word of the year there are also seven other shortlisted words which are honestly just as bad. We’ve got beige flag, Swiftie and situationship all appearing including other words such as heat dome? Apparently, these words were chosen “to most reflect the mood, ethos or preoccupations of the last year”.

So these are all the cringe shortlisted words for the Oxford word of the year and what they all actually mean:

Rizz

Rizz is basically how much game you have when trying to get with someone. It’s short for charisma and it’s just a skill in charming and flirting with someone. According to Oxford University Press, rizz is defined as “style, charm, or attractiveness and the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner”.

Beige flag

Oxford obviously spent way, way too much time on TikTok. A beige flag is just when your partner is boring af. Do you know how you’ve got red flags that indicate serious warning signs about the person you’re in a relationship with? Well, beige flags just let you know that the person you’re dating is dull, boring and unimaginative. If they’ve got beige flags, they’re lame and uninteresting. They’re not necessarily really good or bad they’re just, well, beige.

Swiftie

A Swiftie is just a big fan of Taylor Swift. But boy are some Swifties absolutely unhinged. One apparently tried to s neak into her concert through the sewers recently. Madness.

De-influencing

If you’ve spent any time on TikTok in the last year, you’ve probably seen hundreds of videos de-influencing you from buying something and it was probably all the Stanley Cup dupes that haunted our FYPs for months. But de-influencing is basically just that – discouraging someone from buying something they don’t need on social media that is normally massively hyped up.

Situationship

If you’re lucky enough to not know what a situationship is through experience, you are truly blessed. A situationship is a relationship that is not officially a relationship. Situationships are undefined and mostly non committal. People in situationships are more than friends but not committed like actual romantic partners.

Parasocial

Parasocial, really? Is Oxford Uni Press doing their psychology A-Level or what?? A parasocial relationship is a one-sided relationship normally felt by a big fan of a celebrity where a person feels they know a famous person personally as a friend or romantic relationship, even though the celeb doesn’t actually know they exist. These are normally created because of social media and being able to find out everything about that celeb.

Heat dome

Random but okay? A heat dome is an environmental issue where a constant high-pressure weather environment over a particular place traps a mass of hot air below it. This basically causes a massive heatwave and it’s what the UK felt earlier this year.

Prompt

Another rogue one, this definition of prompt refers to ChatGPT and AI. A prompt is the instruction written into the AI programme when you ask it to do something like write a Taylor Swift song, give you a uni packing list, or tell you all the stereotypes for a Russell Group uni.