MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/. Over a third of Russians are unfamiliar with any of the contenders for word of the year. Meanwhile, one in five suggests "Labubu" as an alternative, a study by the Skyeng online language school, obtained by TASS, shows.
"During the study, Russians suggested their own variants for words of the year. The most popular choice was the word ‘Labubu’ (19%), followed by ‘Pupupu’ (16%) and ‘Red flag’ (15%) — memes from social networks reflecting the ironic language of youth communication. Also included were ‘Sigma’ (13%) and ‘Imba’ (13%) — gaming and internet subculture terms describing an independent leader or something impressive," the study states.
Additionally, more than a third of respondents (36%) were unfamiliar with any of the word-of-the-year candidates. Meanwhile, 33% of Russians understood the meaning of ‘biohacking,’ whereas the other terms were recognized by only a minority: ‘aura farming’ — 16%, ‘rage bait’ — 14%, and ‘parasocial’ — 11%.
At the same time, a third of respondents (31%) strongly rejected all the variants for the word of the year, but 25% agreed with the experts and chose "rage bait" (25%), which indirectly demonstrates the relevance of the aggressive media content problem. Notably, the most recognizable variant among Russians, "biohacking," got only 3% of the votes, transforming from a popular concept to an unrecognized trend.
"Language, as a living system, evolves faster than dictionaries can keep up: what experts call words of the year more often reflect current global trends, while everyday speech absorbs the language of social networks and memes. Many of these come from English, the primary language of global online culture. In Russian, for instance, there is no direct equivalent for ‘rage bait,’ nor for many other terms, which is why we use anglicisms," said Skyeng’s academic director Anastasia Ekushevskaya.