Wetin be 'rage bait', Oxford 2025 word of di year
Wia dis foto come from, Daniel de la Hoz/Getty Images
- Author, Noor Nanji
- Role, Culture reporter
- Read am in 4 mins
Sometimes as you dey scroll through your social media feed, you fit just dey vex?
If na so, you fit dey fall victim of rage bait, wey Oxford University Press don name as dia word of di year.
Dem describe am as manipulative tactics wey pipo dey use to drive engagement online, e don increase three times in di last 12 months past, according to di dictionary publisher.
Rage bait beat two oda terms wey dem shortlist - aura farming and biohack - to win the title.
Dis list of words dey show some of di moods and mata wey don shape 2025.
Wetin be rage bait?
Even if you no sabi di term, if you dey use social media, chance dey say dem don rage bait you before.
According to Oxford University Press, di Oxford English Dictionary publisher, e define rage bait as online content wey dem purposely use to make pipo vex by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive.
Dem dey post dis kind of content to get more pipo to visit di website or social media accounts.
End of Di one wey oda users dey read well well
E dey similar to im internet cousin clickbait, wia dem dey use headline to bring pipo in to see article or video.
But rage bait get specific focus to make pipo vex well well.
Wetin di oda shortlisted words mean?
- Aura farming: Wen you dey try to build up your character to impress, attract pipo, or make you dey carry yourself wit confidence, or to dey act cool.
- Biohack: Wen you dey try to improve your physical or mental performance, health, longevity or wellbeing by changing wetin you dey eat, exercise, or how you dey live yourlife, by using drugs, supplements, or technology.
Di three words wey dem shortlist, dem put am for public vote, and di result help OUP language experts to decide di final word wey dem go pick.
"Di fact say di word rage bait exist and pipo don dey use am well well, show say we dey aware of di manipulative tactics, dem fit drag us into online," Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages tok.
"Before, di internet dey focus on grabbing our attention by making us wonder weda we go click, but now e don change, we don see as dem dey hijack and influence our emotions and how we dey respond.
"E be like di natural progression in a conversation about wetin e mean to be human being inside a world wey tech dey control - and how online culture dey overdo tins."
Wia dis foto come from, MelkiNimages/Getty Images
Last year word of di year na brain rot, e capture how di brain dey tire wen we dey scroll Instagram or TikTok mindlessly.
Oga Grathwohl tok say both 2024 and 2025 winner get similar theme.
"Togeda, dem dey form powerful cycle wia outrage dey bring engagement, algorithms dey amplify am and constant exposure dey leave us mentally drain," e tok.
Previous Oxford words of di year include selfie, goblin mode and rizz.
Meanwhile, Cambridge Dictionary don announce parasocial as di word of 2025, dem define am as wen perin dey feel like say dem get relationship wit celeb wey dem no even know.
Example na how fans show interest wen tori bin break say pop star Taylor Swift and American footballer Travis Kelce announce dia engagement.
Meanwhile, Collins Dictionary pick vibe coding, na di art of making app or website by describing am to artificial intelligence rather dan writing programming code manually.
