New Delhi, Nov. 28 -- Earlier this week, Oxford University Press announced three contenders for the honour of the Word of the Year (WoTY) 2025: "aura farming", "biohack" and "rage bait". Two of these aren't words but phrases, if you are a strict grammarian, but that doesn't matter. Which, as you will realise, ties in with the argument of this essay.

If you are a Boomer (born between 1946-64), a Gen Xer (1965-80), or even a Millennial (1981-96) scratching your head over the meaning of such words-or others like "67" (picked by Dictionary.com as its WoTY), "rizz", "skibiddi" and "parasocial" (Cambridge Dictionary's WoTY 2025)-you are not alone. And I don't just mean among your contemporaries.

Many people of your age felt the same way as fa...