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GENERAL ENGLISH · BREAKING NEWS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

WORD OF THE
YEAR 2023
REVEALED
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1 Warm up

Match the slang words to their meanings.

1. lit a. charm, appeal

2. GOAT b. uncool or trying too hard

3. rizz c. short for outfit

4. fit d. was/were very successful or looked very well

5. cheugy e. amazing, cool

6. served f. greatest of all time

Now, complete the sentences with the words below.

cheugy fit GOAT lit rizz served

1. You with that look!

2. This new video game is ! I can’t stop playing it!

3. Taylor Swift is the of pop music, no argument about that!

4. I haven’t chosen my for the party tonight.

5. My mum is so : she joins all the TikTok trends when they are weeks old.

6. The guy who asked me on a date had so much .

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2 Listening 1

Listen to a news report and choose the correct option.

1. Which of the words above won an award?

a. cheugy b. rizz c. GOAT

2. What award was it?

a. Word of the Month b. Word of the Year c. Word of the Decade

3. Which dictionary gave the award?

a. Oxford b. Cambridge c. Longman

3 Listening 2

Listen again and choose the correct answer to the questions below.

1. Where does the word rizz come from?

a. charisma b. characteristic

2. What phrasal verb can be formed from it?

a. rizz out b. rizz up

3. What pop star is mentioned in the report? What are her fans called?

a. Taylor Swift / Swifties b. Selena Gomes /

Selenators

4. What new term defines a sign that your partner is not very exciting?

a. a beige book b. a beige flag

5. What did the actor who plays Spiderman say in an interview?

a. that he had lots of rizz b. that he had no rizz

whatsoever

6. Which reason does a representative of Oxford NOT give for the popularity of rizz?

a. it’s fun to say b. it’s short c. it has rizz

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4 Vocabulary 1

Complete the following definitions with the missing vowels (a, e, i, o, u). Look at the example.

_ s _ g _ (n) = how much something is used → usage

Group 1

1. f _ n _ l _ st (n) = a person or thing that has reached the last stage of a competition

2. p _ t _ nt _ _ l (n) = the possibility of something happening in the future

3. ch _ r _ sm _ (n) = a personal charm or ability to impress others

4. c _ _ nc _ d _ nc _ (n) = when two things happened at the same time by chance

5. n _ rms (n) = rules, esp., in society

6. s _ gn _ f _ c _ nt (adj.) = important, major

Group 2

1. c _ ntr _ v _ rs _ _ l (adj.) = that many people don’t agree with

2. l _ ng _ _ st (n) = expert in language

3. sl _ ght (adj.) = minor, not very big

4. l _ k _ w _ s _ (adv.) = in the same way

5. r _ l _ v _ nt (adj.) = important at a certain point

6. h_ ll _ c _ n _ t _ (v) = see or hear things that do not exist

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5 Reading 1

Read the article below about the Word of the Year election. Six sentences have been removed. Put
the sentences back into the text in the correct order.

a. In 2015, for the very first time, the word of the year wasn’t actually a word.

b. However, since last year, the public have been allowed to influence the decision, turning the event
into a reality show with words.

c. The term had a huge increase in usage given the many phrases including it that were being used
at the time.

d. Collins Dictionary, for example, chose artificial intelligence as their favorite one for 2023.

e. However, the final decision remained with the experts.

f. Words that are considered usually include those that had a large increase in usage over the last
12 months.

And the Word of the Year is...

A. Each year, Oxford University Press chooses a word that has been very relevant during that period to be the Word
of the Year. The finalists are chosen based on a collection of texts that includes over 22 billion words taken from
1
the news and other real sources. Other important conditions are that they should reflect the
mood of the society at the time and have the potential to last.
2
B. In 2021, for example, during the pandemic, the word chosen was vax, short for vaccination. For
instance, people talked about vax sites, vaxcards and being fully vaxxed. 2019 had climate emergency, and post-truth
was the Word of the Year in 2016. It might not be a coincidence that 2016 was also the year Donald Trump was
running for president of the USA.

C. Other past winners include goblin mode (2022), which refers to lazy or selfish behavior that goes against social
norms, youthquake (2017), describing the significant changes in society brought about by younger generations,
3
and selfie (2013). In a controversial move, the ‘face with tears of joy’ emoji was the big winner.

D. Oxford has been choosing their Word of the Year since 2004, and until recently, only the linguists were involved in
4
choosing it. In 2022, the language experts chose three words and let the public vote online for
the winner. This year, Oxford made a slight change: they put the eight finalists in pairs according to four themes
5
and the public could choose one in each pair. Out of the four finalists, they chose rizz, believed
to be short for charisma, which refers to "style, charm or attractiveness," or "the ability to attract a romantic or
sexual partner".
6
E. Other publishers also choose their Words of the Year. Likewise, Cambridge Dictionary went this
year with hallucinate, but with a slightly updated meaning: referring to the way AI often produces false information.
Both these words are certainly very relevant in today’s society, but it could be argued that they lack a certain rizz!

Sources: BBC, The New York Times

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6 Reading 2

Read the article again. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?

1. How much people use a word is the only criteria to choose the Word of the Year.

2. The writer suggests the choice of Word of the Year 2016 was influenced by politics.

3. One of the previous winning words describes a natural disaster.

4. The Word of the Year has been won by an image before.

5. Oxford has always asked for the public opinion when choosing the Word of the Year.

6. The public vote decided who was the big winner in 2023.

7. Cambridge’s Word of the Year in 2023 was an old word in a new context.

8. The writer indicates a preference for the Oxford Word of the Year over other dictionaries this year.

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7 Vocabulary 2
Part A: The words below all portmanteaus (words formed by joining two other words). What words do
you think they are made of? What do they mean? Look at the example and complete the sentences
with them.

This hamburger is ginormous! I can’t possibly eat it all on my own.

(giant + enormous) used to emphasie how big something is

Group 1

bromance brunch hangry mansplain sheeple

1. I’m feeling really right now. Do you have anything to eat?

2. Josh and Ollie have a little going on! They’re always together these days.

3. You don’t need to women rights to me, Jake!

4. It’s only 10am, but we can go out for if you want.

5. Don’t listen to them. They’re just , repeating what they were told to say without
even thinking.

Group 2

biopic chillax frenemy romcom vlog

1. All I’m going to do this weekend is in front of the TV.

2. She’s my : we get on well, but we’re also competing to see who gets the promotion.

3. I watched a great the other day about the life of Steve Jobs.

4. At this time of the year, I love to laugh and cry with a good !

5. She has a great with tips about living in London.

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Part B: Match the portmanteaus from Part A to their definitions.

1. = calm down

2. = a blog that uses videos instead of text

3. = a funny but romantic movie or series

4. = a biographical movie

5. = a close relationship between two male friends

6. = a meal between normal breakfast and lunch times

7. = people who act like friends but are rivals

8. = feeling angry because you haven’t eaten

9. = when a man explains something to a woman in a patronizing way

10. = people that are compared to sheep (e.g. by always following orders)

8 Speaking

Follow the teacher’s instructions to play Find Someone Who.

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9 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the questions below.

1. Do you think rizz deserved to win over the other competitors this year? Why (not)?

2. What other words were relevant in 2023?

3. Can you think of any other portmanteaus?

4. What’s your favorite word in English?

5. What words do you struggle to pronounce or remember?

10 Extension activity 1

In groups, create new portmanteaus. Then write a dialogue that includes them.

....................................................................................................

....................................................................................................

....................................................................................................

....................................................................................................

....................................................................................................

....................................................................................................

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11 Extension activity 2

Complete the script from the news report with the words from the list. Then listen again and check.

be because from given has in

into not one this to who

1
Oxford University Press
the winner is ... rizz! That word might
it’s all over the internet. It is believed
or romantic appeal’. Apart
a verb, to rizz up, which means to attract someone.
chosen its Word of the Year for 2023. After a fierce competition,
2
mean much to you if you’re not from Gen Z, but
3
come from the word charisma and it means ‘charm
4 5
being used as a noun, it can also be turned

6
Rizz was of eight finalists chosen by language experts. Around 30,000 people voted
online for their favorite word in different categories. Oxford linguists then chose the big winner. The
7 8
other competitors year included Swiftie, the name to a fan of Taylor
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Swift; situationship, which is a romantic relationship not considered to formal; and
beige flag, a term used to suggest a partner is boring.

Rizz started to be used around 2022, but it only became viral after an interview with actor Tom
10 11
Holland, plays Spiderman, which he claimed to have "no rizz
whatsoever". Casper Grathwohl, the president of Oxford Languages, believes the word became popular
12
it’s fun to say and, well, it has rizz!

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