On November 5th, the 30 candidates for the 2024 U-CAN New Word and Popular Phrase Award, which decides the most popular words of the year, were announced. The nominees include "Futehodo," the nickname for the popular drama "Fuketeki mo Hodo ga Aru!", "Hate?", the catchphrase of the heroine played by Ito Sari in the NHK morning drama "Tora ni Tsubasa," and the hit song "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born" by Creepy Nuts.
In addition to entertainment-related nominations, many sports-related quotes were also selected, including the movie "Samurai Time Slippers," the game "8ban Exit," Shohei Ohtani's "50-50," Kaito Oda's "Oh no, I'm too cool," and Haruka Kitaguchi's "I couldn't leave a famous quote behind."
The award began in 1984 and is announced every year in early December. Candidate words are selected by the editorial department and others, mainly from "Gendai yogo no honshoshiki" (Basic Knowledge of Modern Terms) (Jiyuukokuminsha). From these, the selection committee will select the top ten and the annual grand prize.
◇List of candidate words (in alphabetical order)
Acai bowl/Seal kindergarten/Inbound bowl/Unofficial funds problem/Neighborhood/Customer harassment/Convenience store Mount Fuji/Samurai time slipper/Middle-aged Japan/New banknotes/New NISA/Soft old people/Tokuryu/Nankai Trough earthquake emergency information/Cat meme/Hello, welcome/Exit 8/Huh?/BeReal/Victims' Association/50-50/Futehodo/Bling-Bang-Bang-Born/Breaking/White case/Unification of minor health insurance cards/Couldn't leave a memorable quote/Enough already/Oh no, I'm too cool/Reiwa rice riots
