Christmas rut

Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries have crowned their winners for word of the year.

“Brain rot” got Oxford’s nod, by which is meant a deterioration of our “mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging”.

Oxford must have predicted our current obsession with Jennings and Maris, and their rumored infidelity. Overnight, my feed was full of posts of judgers and defenders of these method actors. If there were a category for phrase of the year, it probably would have been “do you miss my body?”

Good thing I know zilch about these lovers-squabblers, so in my case, brain rot would probably refer to my compulsive tendency to check on updates on Congress, and its investigations of this scandal and that crook in aid of supposed legislation. The lack of intellectual challenges notwithstanding, it’s so delicious to see powerful men and women duking it out, all asserting their inherent, to-the-bone privilege, and exerting their very best efforts to out-intimidate each other.

I would nominate “drag me to hell” as the phrase of the year. It exemplifies the elegance and high-brow conversational skills we have achieved in local politics. It’s quite punchy, for one. It feeds the listener the necessary oomph to bring home the dire straits of the vice president, who is facing an inquiry on her injudicious spending habits. Although, one might have wondered why she went straight to hell, when she could have gone to purgatory first. There are worse things than your chief-of-staff getting moved in the middle of the night to a women’s prison, right?

“Demure” lost as contender for word of the year, and rightly so. Did you see anyone in those congressional investigations being demure? Not Vice President Sara Duterte, who stood up to those pesky congressmen, and then made up her own rules on decorum as she went along. Why, she even decided when she would and she wouldn’t show up for the hearings. Drag me to hell, indeed.

Demure? Not her father Rodrigo, who cussed and threatened the soldiers and politicians around him. Not her chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez, who thrashed and wailed when threatened with separation from her boss. Nobody demure over there, from what we can see. Mayor Alice Guo might have qualified, except “coy” might be a better descriptor for her.

Cambridge, on the other hand, chose “manifest” as its winner. This word means “a wellness trend to imagine achieving a goal in the hope it will make it more likely to happen”. Oh yes, indeed. We have seen plenty of manifestations emanating from Congress this year.

For example, did we not see Sara Duterte muttering and moaning about the plot to impeach her? True enough, in as little time as a few days, two impeachment complaints were filed against her, with a possible third looming. That’s the power of manifesting for you.

In turn, the Iglesia ni Cristo church intends to hold nationwide rallies to protest Sara’s possible impeachment. A fabulous example of multiple manifestations, all from the faithful meek that that church counts on. A magical miracle brought on by manifesting? Let’s see if after this, all will be well indeed.

Finally, Macquarie has chosen an entirely new word as its winner: “enshittification”. It apparently means “the deterioration of a service brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking”.

Apropos for our government? Like, tell me, which government service actually improved from, say, 10 years ago? Things have ever so inexorably turned to s--- in the public sector.

Or is this apropos to Sara’s political year thus far? 2024 has been tough for her. Enshittification might be her thought bubble when she looks under the Christmas tree. Where are her usual gifts from all the sycophants? Where is that cheap cologne from Liza? Where is the recycled Hermes hotel bathroom soap from Tina? More importantly, where is her 2025 confidential funds budget from Congress?

Time again to manifest? Ho ho ho.