Letter from the Ed
The end of a year always sees a rush of ‘best of’, ‘new’ and
‘top 10’ lists of this and that. As 2023 drew to a close, one that stood out for me was the word of the year, according to Oxford University Press. It’s rizz. Now, like many people of my generation, when I hear rizz, my mind goes immediately to Rizzo, the sassy friend of our own Olivia NewtonJohn’s Sandy in the iconic 1978 film Grease. But no, rizz is short for charisma. It apparently became popular after Spiderman actor Tom Holland (I hadn’t heard of him either) told an interviewer that he had ‘no rizz whatsoever’. I’m told Tom is BIG among young people, so the word took off. When I asked around the tl! team whether anyone knew what rizz was, it became clear it was an age thing. Claudia, 27, said her friends often used it, as a bit of fun. Lizzy, 28, said she’d thought she was a hip and happening young person, but not anymore. ‘I’ve never heard of it!’ she said, shaking her head. Same with Sam,
30. ‘I’m already feeling out of touch!’ she laughed. Then Jude told us Macquarie Dictionary’s Word of the Year, which seemed a bit more ageless and couldn’t be more Aussie. ‘It’s cozzie livs, as in cost of living,’ she told us. ‘I know that one!’ I said. A friend had recently referred to ‘cozzie livs’ in an email and I was stumped, wondering if it referred to someone called Olivia and her swimming costume. But then it hit me, as these things do. All I can say now is that I hope in 2024 our cozzie livs goes down!
The word of the year was rizz!
Linda Smith, Editor linda@aremedia.com.au