Rizz: Pertaining to someone’s ability to attract another person through style, charm, or attractiveness, this term is from the middle part of the word ‘charisma’, which is an unusual word formation pattern.
Oxford University Press
Okay. You know what? I’m not mad. There were a lot of contenders for the word of the year I would have been far more upset with. For example “Swiftie” was in the running. I don’t think that counts. It’s a nickname. Just like “Belieber” or “Blockheads”.
And I will never NOT be big mad that the 2015 word of the year was an EMOJI.
But rizz? It’s fun for a couple of reasons. First, it’s one of the few words where the shortened form is taken from the middle of the bigger word. The examples that Oxford University Press gives are “fridge” from the word “refrigerator” and the word “flu” from “influenza”.
The second reason I think it’s fun is that it’s similar to other slang words from the 1920’s or thereabouts. Razzmatazz was documented in and around 1917 and meant showy, or sparkle, or robust and enthusiastic. Razz appeared around the same time but also meant something completely different – to heckle someone or to give them a hard time.
Language is always evolving, and it’s interesting to see what happens as we move forward, especially with how things trend on social media and the internet. For those of you who have read 1984, do you remember the dictionary department? They were continuously working on making the dictionary smaller and smaller. Ignoring the fascist ideology behind their reasoning for doing so, I feel as though we are moving consistently in the opposite direction. Expanding our ability to understand and communicate with one another in a society that is progressing through movements and trends at break-neck speeds. Scary, but also interesting.
So tell me! Are there any words voted “Word of the Year” that angered you? Or are there slang words that have recently cropped up that just tickle you the right way? I’d love to know in the comments!
Winters Writer 