'Noncha' is the Flemish teen Word of the Year 2024, VRT announced on Monday. Viewers of Ketnet and Karrewiet gave ‘glamour’ the award for Children's Word of the Year.
Children and teenagers had a week to vote for their favourite word of 2024 via VRT's Karrewiet website on VRT MAX or via the NWS.NWS.NWS website. A record number of 88,500 children and teenagers voted for their favourite word.
Among teenagers, the result was pretty clear this year: 'noncha' garnered more than 15,000 votes (37%). The word is an obvious abbreviation of nonchalant and therefore means chill, carefree or relaxed. The word succeeds teen words like 'heftig' ("heavy"), 'yeet' and 'bestie.'
Teen word
Noncha: 37%
Yappen: 26% (yapping, chatting)
Pookie: 19% (best friend, someone you can be yourself with)
Aura: 10% (being cool, vibe)
Glamour: 8% (stylish, often through extravagant clothes)
While 'glamour' did not have as much appeal with teenagers, the word is apparently used often by children and emerged as the winner for Children's Word of 2024. However, the difference with the word in second place, ‘skibidi’, is extremely small: it only received 248 fewer votes.
While 'glamour' in itself is not a new word, children have given it a Flemish twist by pronouncing it differently. The word is pronounced 'glamoor.'
Children's word
Glamour: 24.3%
Skibidi: 23.7% (has no specific meaning but is used when something strange or striking happens)
Sigma: 23% (means being cool and popular)
Aina: 23% (used as an exclamation when something goes wrong)
Mega: 6% (a lot or very cool)
