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Brainrot, brat, extreme weather, midwest nice and weird round out the shortlist SAN MATEO, Calif. , Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dictionary.com , the world's leading digital dictionary, today announced its 2024 Word of the Year: demure . Traditionally used to describe reserved or modest individuals, demure has taken on an expanded meaning this year to signify refined and sophisticated appearances or behaviors. "As remote work fades and in-person experiences become the norm again, the subtle art of personal presentation has taken on renewed importance," said Steve Johnson , Curriculum Design Manager of the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning . " Demure captures this cultural shift with a modern twist: a word that once carried traditional, often limiting connotations has been reimagined to celebrate understated elegance and suavity. Its evolving meaning gives people a way to express quiet confidence—embracing modesty and charm as intentional, empowering choices . " In making the annual selection, Dictionary.com 's lexicographers analyzed a wealth of data—including newsworthy headlines, search engine results and social media trends—to identify words that captured pivotal moments in 2024. The word demure dominated the cultural zeitgeist, with its usage in digital media surging a remarkable 1,200% between January and August. This meteoric rise is largely attributed to Jools Lebron, a content creator who popularized the phrase "very demure, very mindful" in a series of TikTok videos illustrating how to embody the term in professional, travel and social settings. The social media buzz surrounding demure sparked a similar spike in search interest. In the 11 months before Lebron's videos, there was no notable trend in Google searches for the term, but interest surged 14-fold by August 2024 . At its peak, searches for demure on Dictionary.com were 200 times greater than their previous rate. While the initial trend has cooled, the word remains five times more popular on Dictionary.com than it was before its breakout moment. Alongside demure, Dictionary.com 's lexicographers identified five additional words that shaped the cultural conversation in 2024, rounding out this year's shortlist. Read more about Dictionary.com 's 2024 Word of the Year at http://dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year/ . About Dictionary.com Words define every aspect of our lives, from our ideas to our identities. Dictionary.com aspires to empower people to express themselves, make connections and find opportunities through the power and joy of language. With 96 million visitors each month, Dictionary.com is the premier destination to learn, discover and have fun with the limitless world of words and meanings. The brand helps you make sense of the ever-evolving English language so you can put your ideas into words—and your words into action. Press Contact Joslyn Chesson IXL Learning press@ixl.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dictionarycom-names-demure-as-the-2024-word-of-the-year-302315735.html SOURCE IXL LearningChairman of the General Authority for Healthcare and General Supervisor of the Comprehensive Health Insurance Project, Ahmed El-Sobky, met with Ronald Lavatar, CEO of the International Hospital Federation. The Authority held its fifth annual forum under the slogan “Towards Globalization in Providing Healthcare Services” to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the official launch of the comprehensive health insurance system. El-Sobky discussed with Lavatar ways to enhance cooperation to support the development of healthcare systems in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region, in line with the directions of the political leadership in Egypt. Lavatar also handed El-Sobky the Gold Award Certificate in Health Sustainability, Awareness, and Social Responsibility after the Authority won it in appreciation of its distinguished efforts in the fields of sustainability and healthcare. Preparations for the upcoming meetings of the International Hospital Federation, scheduled in India at the end of February 2025, were also a topic of discussion between the two sides. Dr. El-Sobky expressed his aspiration to host the 49th International Hospital Federation Forum in Egypt in 2026, stressing that Egypt has become a leading destination in the fields of healthcare at the regional and global levels. In the context of future cooperation, El-Sobky stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation with the Federation to continue developing treatment services, transferring advanced expertise, and employing modern technology and artificial intelligence to achieve the best global practices. He also mentioned enhancing cooperation with the Federation and the Geneva Center for Sustainability in Switzerland to support sustainability initiatives in healthcare and enhance innovation. He emphasized the Authority’s keenness to partner with global health institutions to develop the health system. For his part, Ronald Lavatar expressed his happiness to participate in the Authority’s fifth annual forum, stressing his aspiration for many visits to Egypt and the Authority’s health facilities in the coming periods to deepen joint cooperation. Lavatar commended the swift progress in Egypt’s healthcare sector, emphasizing that the General Authority for Healthcare has established a benchmark for managing and operating health facilities in accordance with the most stringent international standards.NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution's suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea "absurd." The Manhattan district attorney's office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to "pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful," Trump's lawyers wrote in a 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump's lawyers filed paperwork this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won't include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn't sentenced and his appeal wasn't resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney's office declined comment. It's unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump's request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution's suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump's parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution's suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the "ongoing threat" that he'll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. The prosecution's suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they contend. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump tapped for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution's novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to "fabricate" a solution "based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump" who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September "and a hypothetical dead defendant." Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what's already a unique case. "This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding," prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn't "precipitously discard" the "meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers." Prosecutors acknowledged that "presidential immunity requires accommodation" during Trump's impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury's verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Other world leaders don't enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation's wars in Lebanon and Gaza. Trump has fought for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. Trump's hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith ended his two federal cases, which pertained to Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in each case. Trump was scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November, but following Trump's Nov. 5 election win, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president's sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.
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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. - Two former premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador say a draft energy agreement signed Thursday with Quebec shattered a political standoff that leaders had been trying to end for decades. Brian Tobin, a Liberal premier from 1996 to 2000, said the shift in political alignment will be good for the provinces, and for the entire country. “I think it is a long-awaited breaking of a gridlock in the relationship between Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec,” he said in an interview Friday. “I think that this is really important.” The tensions stem from a contract signed by the two provinces in 1969, which allowed Quebec to buy hydroelectric power from the Churchill Falls plant in Labrador for just 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour. The contract was set to expire in 2041, and there was no allowance for the price to change with the market. On Thursday, Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Premier Andrew Furey literally tore up a copy of that contract as he sat beside Quebec Premier François Legault in St. John’s, N.L. They inked a new agreement in principle stipulating that Quebec will pay more, beginning with one cent per kilowatt hour in 2025, and increasing in subsequent years. The province will also shell out an average of $1 billion a year until 2041, with increases to follow, and pay a $3.5-billion fee to partner on new energy projects in the Churchill River. Ultimately, Quebec will pay an average of 5.9 cents per kilowatt hour for energy from all Labrador sources over the 50-year contract. The deal comes with stipulations that prices can change along with the market, officials said Thursday. Tobin dismissed questions about whether one cent per kilowatt hour in the first year was enough of an improvement. He pointed to Newfoundland and Labrador’s past unsuccessful attempts to challenge the 1969 deal in court, including in the Supreme Court of Canada. Under those rulings, Quebec has a legal right to continue paying next to nothing for Churchill Falls energy until 2041, Tobin said. Instead, after decades of bickering, they’ve chosen to turn the page. “One of the things that’s important in this agreement is that it was not done with Newfoundland and Labrador’s back to the wall,” he said. “Many other premiers, myself included, tried to address this issue. In my case, there was still 42 or 43 years left in the agreement. So not much incentive for Quebec to become too creative in trying to address our needs.” But Quebec needs energy, and new power projects take at least 10 years to build, so it was time for the province to act, he said. Former Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal premier Roger Grimes was also impressed by the end of the deal that has haunted the province since it was signed in 1969. “Every premier since then wished that they had found a partner in Quebec, like Premier Legault, who was willing to give some redress for (Churchill Falls),” said Grimes, who governed from 2001 to 2003. “And Premier Furey did. And thank God that he seized the moment.” The 1969 contract isn’t the only hydroelectric black eye in Newfoundland and Labrador’s past. The province is still deep in debt because of the Muskrat Falls development, which is also on the Churchill River. The project was approved in 2012 with a price tag of about $7.4 billion, but by the time it was finally commissioned last year after years of delay, the price had nearly doubled. Grimes said the agreement signed Thursday not only rights the wrongs of 1969, but it reflects lessons learned from Muskrat Falls. Under the deal, Quebec will manage the construction of the two new projects and it will absorb all cost overruns while Newfoundland and Labrador will be the majority owner, he said. The Progressive Conservative government under Danny Williams pushed for Muskrat Falls, and Grimes believes Williams was driven by an anger toward Quebec and a need to prove that Newfoundland and Labrador didn’t need them. Now, after Thursday’s agreement, the two provinces are willing partners, in an arrangement that benefits them both, he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2024.Saudi Arabia's plans to host the men's World Cup 2034 will be harmful for the climate, experts sayLuigi Mangione case: Police get closer to ‘motivation and mindset’ in CEO killing