Enshittification

Enshittification has been chosen by Australia’s preeminent dictionary as the word of the year for 2024.

The Macquarie Dictionary, which is regarded as the main chronicler of Australian English, defines enshittification as “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.”

Most Strine speakers would probably refer to enshittification as things going to the shits.

Macquire notes that the term is now being used to describe many things in life, not just tech-related, citing the example of shrinkflation of products as a case of enshittification.

Canadian journalist Cory Doctorow, editor of Boing Boing, invented the term in a 2022 blog post. Australian “services” have probably perfected the practice, at least in my experience.

Enshittification was a wonderful summation of my experience for 2024 until the summer, as my career and pay spiraled downward, taking a great deal of the pleasure of life with it.

Then, a sudden, unexpected and delightfully welcome change in career provided a new lease of life and a massive injection of happiness and contentment.

Now, it mostly applies to our lawn, which had been the pride of the neighborhood until the searing heat of the summer killed it off and now it is mere clumps of grass covering dirt.

The Australian National Dictionary Center chose Colesworth as Australia’s word of the year for 2024. Colesworth refers to the duopoly held by Australia’s supermarket chains, Coles and Woolworth’s.