Tom Holland is partly responsible for Oxford’s Word Of The Year

4 December, 2023

Tom Holland at Deadline presents Apple TV+'s "The Crowded Room" held at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on November 14, 2023 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by John Salangsang/Deadline via Getty Images)

It has been shared that Tom Holland was partly responsible for the 2023 Oxford word of the year being “Rizz”.

Mainly used by Gen Z, the slang term used for “style, charm or attractiveness” or “the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner” beat out other contenders such as “Swiftie” (an enthusiastic fan of Taylor Swift), “situationship” (an informal romantic or sexual relationship) and “prompt” (an instruction given to an artificial intelligence program) for the title of Oxford’s word of the year.

Rizz was popularized by Kai Cenat, a YouTuber and Twitch streamer, back in 2022 after he posted “rizz tip” videos. The term then gained viral traction after Holland was asked about his ‘rizz’ in an interview with BuzzFeed to which he replied: ” I have no rizz whatsoever. I have limited rizz.”

Holland’s response led to the creation of endless memes and a surge in the word’s usage. The term is massively used online, with billions of views of the hashtag “rizz” on TikTok.

Speaking about this year’s campaign and the winner of Oxford Word of the Year 2023, Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, said: “Rizz is a term that has boomed on social media and speaks to how language that enjoys intense popularity and currency within particular social communities—and even in some cases lose their popularity and become passé—can bleed into the mainstream.”

He continued: “This is a story as old as language itself, but stories of linguistic evolution and expansion that used to take years can now take weeks or months. The spike in usage data for rizz goes to prove that words and phrases that evolve from internet culture are increasingly becoming part of day-to-day vernacular and will continue to shape language trends in the future.”

In other Tom Holland news, the actor’s film Uncharted has topped the the film chart on Netflix UK.

The film follows Nathan Drake (Holland) who is recruited by Victor Sullivan (Wahlberg) in a race against corrupt billionaire Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas) and mercenary leader Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) to locate the fabled treasure of the Magellan expedition.

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