By James Herold and Kevin Lopez
This week, “authentic” was chosen as the 2023 Merriam-Webster word of the year after “gaslighting” was the 2022 word of the year. But we want you to know that “rizz” was a part of the mix.
That’s right, “rizz” among other top words including “kibbutz,” “implode,” deadname,” “coronation,” “doppelganger,” “dystopian,” “covenant,” “indict” and “deepfake.” Lookups for the top words included, “authentic cuisine,” “authentic voice,” “authentic self” and “authentic as sacrifice.”
“We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity,” Merriam-Webster editor Peter Sokolowski told the Associated Press during an exclusive interview published Monday. “What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.”
This year “rizz”, which is slang for “romantic appeal or charm” and is short for charisma, made the cut. Grand Rapids Community College students and even the GRCC president, gave their opinion on what it means, if they have heard of it, and whether they have rizz.
Interviewed Tuesday outside the Raider Grill, President Charles Lepper said he did not know what rizz was, and after hearing the definition said: “…I don’t know if it aligns with what I think of charisma.”
GRCC student, Victoria Robinson, 19, of Grand Rapids knew what rizz was and offered a hilarious response.
“Rizz to me is being able to pull someone…” said Robinson outside the Quiet Cafe, “Having good rizz, having good pick up lines, you know what to do in the situation. You just have rizz, people want you. How do I feel about rizz? Rizz can be done in … a wrong way and a right way. …There’s toxic rizz. Someone can just come up to you and they don’t have rizz but they think they do, and it can negatively impact the world. And positive rizz is different. Do I have rizz? No.
GRCC Student Natalie Windemuller, 19, of Grand Rapids, kind of knew what rizz was.
“It’s Charisma isn’t it?” Windemuller said outside the Quiet Cafe. ”It’s basically being able to pull someone, by personality or looks or something… I do not like rizz, I’ve been rizzed, rizzed out before and I did not like it at all.”
You can view the interview on the Collegiate’s Instagram Page
