An assortment of absurd, useful and funny words and phrases entered the vernacular this year. How well do you know them?

Teens talk about their “brain rot” online. While there isn’t data to back it up, per se, experts do have concerns about the ...

Ever spend a little too much time scrolling through social media or binge-watching shows and end up feeling…fuzzy? The phrase “brain rot” has exploded online, used to describe everything from too much ...

While not a clinical diagnosis, brain rot describes the “deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state,” often caused by overconsumption of material, particularly online, according to the ...

Read this if you’re feeling stuck in a scroll and crash cycle. Excessive screen time can lead to “brain rot,” a mental fog that dulls focus, memory, and reward sensitivity. Reversing this decline ...

So just what is "brain rot" and how did the term start? ““Brain rot” is a term for the mental decline that can come from overconsumption of low quality or unchallenging online content,” Healthline ...

The brain is a muscle, leaving it to rot is a choice. We can take proactive steps to counteract the risk of cognitive depletion, and the emotional drain that comes with it. Brain rot symbolizes the ...

In the first half of 2025, she racked up over 55 million views on TikTok and 4 million likes, mostly from tweens glued to their cellphones. Not bad for an AI-generated cartoon ballerina with a ...

Is this my “Old Man Yells at (Digital) Cloud” moment? Gone are the days when our memes are all man-made. Just a couple years ago, the internet’s favorite absurd animals were photoshopped images of a ...

I open my DMs to an Instagram gallery my younger sister sent me of the zodiac signs as different rats. "Lmao so me," I absentmindedly respond upon deeming my rat acceptable. Our conversations ...

"Brain rot" refers to mindless, often absurd online content popular with kids and tweens, especially on TikTok and Roblox. A viral subgenre called "Italian brain rot" features surreal AI characters ...