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Words we're saying goodbye to in 2025
Oxford's word of the year for 2024 is 'brain rot.'
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Daniel Grill
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LAist listeners shared what words and phrases they would like to retire in the new year.
Whether it was new slang reaching the mainstream like the phrase “brain rot” or older words gaining new prominence in the case of “demure,” 2024 was a year of buzzwords, but as we settle into 2025, it may be time to clean out the old lexicon closet.
On LAist’s daily radio show, AirTalk with Larry Mantle, we asked listeners to tell us what words or expressions they're sick of hearing.
Listen
15:44
Word fatigue is real. Which words are you sick of hearing?
2025 would like to be excluded from this narrative
Words can rapidly fall in and out of favor, especially on the internet.
“I'm sick of ‘narrative’ and ‘change the narrative.’ It sounds like word salad to me,” said Catherine in Westchester.
Ivy in Burbank said the word “gaslighting” has become overused.
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“It's now a catch all for anything that ticks people off. It's misused so much,” she said.
I'm sick of ‘narrative’ and ‘change the narrative.’ It sounds like word salad to me.
— Catherine in Westchester.
“I think the issue is with the meme-ification of talk these days,” wrote listener Kevin from Lakewood.
He mentioned the phrase "holding space" as an example. “[It] starts as a joke that creeps into other conversations and then becomes part of the lexicon. I think that's where many of these grating new phrases start.”
What does it even mean anymore?
Other listeners would like to retire words that once denoted something unique, but have since become meaningless.
Anne in Lake Balboa points to the term “handcrafted."
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“You make a sandwich and it's ‘handcrafted.’ You make coffee and it's ‘handcrafted.’ You take your car to the car wash and it's ‘handcrafted,'” she said. “They're trying to elevate what was done by hand, and now they call it handcrafted as opposed to what it used to mean with taking things that are artfully done.”
Kevin in Long Beach would like people to stop using the word “unprecedented.”
“It's not a bad or misused word in itself, but it's losing meaning in the world we live in. The planet will only get hotter and politics will only get crazier,” he wrote.
Just ones that grind people’s gears
Russell in Montrose said the phrase “ lean in” should be done away with because it's a “pretentious and puzzling substitute for emphasize.”
Rebecca in L.A. wrote in to request that we ban the use of “unpack.”
Let's get rid of ‘I appreciate you.’ All I did was hand you a pen—just say thanks.
— Cas in L.A.
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And Cas from L.A. said, “Let's get rid of ‘I appreciate you.’ All I did was hand you a pen — just say thanks.”
Say so long to the word "so"
By a longshot — the most requested — nay, demanded — word people want gone in 2025 is "so."
Jim in Mount Washington said we should “ban the darn thing,” specifically when used as the first word to preface an explanation to a question.
“ It reminds me of a 3-year-old being caught with fingers in the cookie jar trying to explain why that happened. It almost sounds as if the person using it is embarrassed,” he said.
So..... who else feels personally victimized by this conversation? Anyone?
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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