When Jools Lebron posted a video on August 2, she probably had no idea that this would forever change her life, and the English language. For fun, she created a humorous video about her workplace makeup routine. “You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure. Very mindful.” In her satirical video, the TikToker critiqued women who wear different makeup to job interviews than they do in the workplace.

It didn’t take long for that single phrase to become an internet sensation. Even the White House joined in on the trend, posting a photo of Joe Biden with the caption stating that widespread student loan forgiveness was very “demure” and “mindful.”

Jools was soon invited to various events and even appeared on some of the most-watched American talk shows to repeat her iconic use of the word “demure.” The money she earned from these appearances ultimately allowed her to finance her transition. “One day, I was playing cashier and making videos on my break, and now I’m flying across countries to host events, and I’m gonna be able to finance the rest of my transition,” she said in a video.

The popularity of the word “demure” even prompted the dictionary to update its definition. Due to its online cultural significance, the word has taken on connotations of sophistication and elegance in how one presents themselves in public.

Because the word saw a 1,200% increase in usage between January and the end of August, Dictionary.com decided to crown it the word of the year. Words like “brat,” referencing the growing popularity of the term due to Charli XCX’s album of the same name, and “weird,” used by vice presidential candidate Tim Walz to describe his opponents, didn’t make the cut.