My vote for the word of 2023 didn’t win. Merriam Webster chose “authentic” and Oxford University Press chose “rizz”. Authentic as an antidote to AI, fake news, alternative truths… Rizz, a shortening of charisma popularized by the influencer Kai Cenat on the streaming service, Twitch. I understand authentic but rizz was a mystery. Who is Kai Cenat? What is Twitch? And why does the job title “influencer” even exist? I suspect a Gen Zer could sort this out quickly.
Enough probably won’t catch on despite having much to recommend. Enough is the sweet spot between too little and too much. It’s Goldilocks’ “just right”. But enough is usually viewed through a comparative lens. We may absolutely have enough, but when compared to others, we feel inadequately provisioned.. A step up on the economic ladder invariably leads to a step (or steps) up in our wants. What was a plenty, now feels paltry.
A true story about Enough, told by John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard.
“At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, ‘Yes, but I have something he will never have ... enough.’ Enough. I was stunned by the simple eloquence of that word-stunned for two reasons: first, because I have been given so much in my own life and, second, because Joseph Heller couldn't have been more accurate. For a critical element of our society, including many of the wealthiest and most powerful among us, there seems to be no limit today on what enough entails.”
Enough in 2024? Surely it’s better than rizz. Happy New Year from this lonely enoughist.