DINNER PARTY INTEL: Make 2024 your year of rizz
A slang term for charisma is the Oxford University Press word of the year
1. Word in your year
The word of the year, according to Oxford University Press, is “rizz”. It’s considered an abbreviation of “charisma” and is slang for “style, charm or attractiveness”. It emerged from internet and gaming culture, according to Oxford, and was popularised in 2022 by the YouTube and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat.
2. Whistleblower winner
A list of South African whistleblower winners was announced this month, but none was rewarded as handsomely as North American winner Michael Bawduniak. The former Biogen employee alleged the company paid kickbacks to doctors to encourage them to prescribe its multiple sclerosis drugs. Bawduniak’s prize was $266.4m, but the award has provoked a debate over whether whistleblowers should be rewarded.
3. Getting a kick out of crime
A football club in Wallacedene, an informal settlement in Cape Town’s northern suburbs, has been accused of being part of a construction mafia. The Western Cape High Court last week issued an interim interdict to end the intimidation and disruption by team members of firms building two schools in the area.