This week, researchers at Oxford University Press have revealed what 2025's 'word of the year' was for Generation Alpha.
For those unfamiliar with the terminology, 'Gen A' youngsters describe those born between 2010 and 2024.
They come right after social media savvy Gen Zs (also known as Zoomers), who were born roughly between 1996 and 2010, and are two steps away from selfie-loving Millennials, born 1981 and 1996.
Generation Alpha also come directly before 'Generation Beta', a new batch of babies that will arrive until 2039, that experts predict will 'grow up in a world shaped by breakthroughs in technology, evolving social norms, and an increasing focus on sustainability and global citizenship'.
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When it comes to lingo being used by today's infants and teens, a new term, phrase or 'vocal stim' seems to emerge every single week, the vast majority of which are inspired by social media trends and TikTok sounds.
In the most commonly used phrases category for last year, experts claimed earlier this month, were the likes of 'rage bait', 'girl math' and 'soft launch'. With regards to specific words, however, experts at Oxford University revealed that the one that appeared the most, is 'peace'.
Arguably an old-school choice, the word 'peace' reportedly emerged from surveyed opinions given by almost 5,000 children across the UK, aged between six and 14 years old. Apparently, the reason for the prominence of this specific term is altogether more heartbreaking that you might have first thought.
Asked why they'd chose it as their 'word of the year', 10 children referenced 'war'. Some even went on to highlight current global conflicts, like the crisis in Gaza and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The revelation came after the Oxford Children’s Corpus conducted a study of writing both by and for children in the English language found that the word 'peace' appeared unexpected often.
Returning to the original survey, the term 'AI' came in second, with 20 percent of children claiming they'd either 'heard' about, or 'talked' about artificial intelligence within their circles.
Director of early years and primary publishing at Oxford University Press, Andrea Quincey, explained of this somewhat alarming patterns: "A key theme we see from our Oxford Children’s Word of the Year research is just how attuned children are to current affairs.
"This year is no different; whether that’s calling for peace in response to current conflicts or highlighting how AI has permeated daily life."
Chief executive of the National Literacy Trust Jonathan Douglas also spoke of the 'profound role' that language has in shaping our society, culture and identity.
"Understanding how children and young people make sense of the words they encounter in their daily lives, take ownership of them and play with their meaning, demonstrates the power of language for helping us comprehend the world around us and our place in it," he said.
Rhianna Benson