What ? Had you already forgotten “Quoicoubeh”? Even if the fashion effect has faded, parents and teachers certainly remember it. Theoretically, this insignificant reply that we throw to the person who answers us “what? » was popularized on TikTok in December 2022 by Frenchman Cameron Djassougue, known as LaVache (@camskolavache). But it was in 2023 that it was really adopted by young people to the point of arousing media curiosity on both sides of the Atlantic.
The hot air fryer, which cooks food more quickly than a traditional oven, continues to gain fans this year. “Air fryer fan(s)” (a real Facebook group, with nearly 127,000 members) are everywhere. Slight setback for this new favorite of cooks last February: the manufacturer Cosori recalled more than two million appliances sold on the continent (Canada, United States and Mexico), due to a risk of fire.
We are no longer talking about Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, but about PSPP. The Parti Québécois leader has had a strong year, starting with a record 98.51% support at his party’s convention on March 11. His popularity continued to rise when the Parti Québécois wrested the riding of Jean-Talon from the Coalition Avenir Québec in a by-election in October. And what an advantage for everyone to call it PSPP: we no longer hesitate between the names Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and Pierre St-Paul Plamondon!
Developed at the end of 2022, it’s really in 2023 that ChatGPT is out of the bag! The conversational robot that runs on artificial intelligence (AI) has been acclaimed, criticized, ridiculed, dissected… As proof, the software’s profile is the most consulted on Wikipedia by Internet users in 2023. The awareness of the The need for guidelines was imposed by the gang, because as the other would say, great power implies great responsibilities.
On Saturday, May 6, at Westminster Abbey, Charles III became King of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. He thus officially entered history… and our vocabulary, almost 70 years after the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on June 2, 1953. Charles III took the oath by placing his hand on the Bible during a very formal ceremony which brought together numerous heads of state and government from around the world.
The succession of freezing rain, floods and forest fires has raised the level of eco-anxiety for many in 2023. While experts affirmed that Quebec would face more intense climatic episodes in Looking ahead, smog caused by smoke enveloped many cities in June. At the beginning of July, a statement from director Xavier Dolan to the Spanish daily El Mundo caused a stir. Did he really say he wanted to build a house in the country with his friends and watch the world burn? Never, he replied.
This portmanteau word which caused so much discussion in July is the result of a huge publicity stunt. Objective: to promote the release of two megaproductions – Barbie and Oppenheimer – by creating a false rivalry. Internet users had a field day, including memes, drawings and video montages, with many even debating the ideal order to see both films on the same day, for a total of nearly 300 minutes of viewing. !
Are you still saying Twitter? You are so 2022! Elon said X, everyone has to repeat after him. In the summer of 2023, the eccentric billionaire who bought the social network at great expense last year suddenly renamed it, knocking out the original blue bird. And it is an understatement to say that with Musk at the helm, the platform has lost its feathers, being stripped of more than half of its advertising revenue and facing controversy over the circulation of racist and anti-Semitic messages.
At the risk of repeating myself, Taylor Swift is without a shadow of a doubt the most talked about artist this year. She probably would never have achieved it without her army of “Swifties”. Through strength in numbers, her admirers have demonstrated that they can fill stadiums night after night, influence politics and even invest in the most prestigious universities: Harvard offers a course on the singer’s musical universe!
Emerging from mothballs, the flip phone made an unexpected comeback this year, brought back by teenagers nostalgic for a time before social media and tech companies who sensed a good deal. Again this year, new and improved models hit the market: Samsung’s Galaxy Flip5 and its more affordable rival, Motorola’s Razr 40.