User:Takingsolace/wordOfTheYear
The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY" (or "WotY"), refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere during a specific year.
The German tradition, Wort des Jahres was started in 1971. The American Dialect Society's Word of the Year is the oldest English-language version, and the only one that is announced after the end of the calendar year, determined by a vote of independent linguists, and not tied to commercial interest.[citation needed] However, various other organizations also announce Words of the Year for a variety of purposes.
American Dialect Society[edit]
Since 1990, the American Dialect Society (ADS) has designated one or more words or terms to be the "Word of the Year" in the United States. In addition to the "Word of the Year", the society also selects words in other categories such as "Most Outrageous," "Most Creative," and "Most Likely to Succeed."
In 2000, the ADS selected web as Word of the Decade, jazz as Word of the Twentieth Century, and she as Word of the Millenium. In 2009, google was Word of the Decade. In 2019, they was Word of the Decade.
| Year | Word of the Year[1] |
|---|---|
| 1990 | bushlips |
| 1991 | mother of all – |
| 1992 | Not! |
| 1993 | information superhighway |
| 1994 | Tie: cyber and morph |
| 1995 | Tie: World Wide Web and newt |
| 1996 | mom |
| 1997 | millennium bug |
| 1998 | e- |
| 1999 | Y2K |
| 2000 | chad |
| 2001 | 9-11, 9/11 or September 11 |
| 2002 | weapons of mass destruction or WMD |
| 2003 | metrosexual |
| 2004 | red/blue/purple states |
| 2005 | truthiness |
| 2006 | to be plutoed, to pluto |
| 2007 | subprime |
| 2008 | bailout |
| 2009 | tweet |
| 2010 | app |
| 2011 | occupy |
| 2012 | #hashtag |
| 2013 | because |
| 2014 | #blacklivesmatter |
| 2015 | they |
| 2016 | dumpster fire |
| 2017 | fake news |
| 2018 | tender-age shelter |
| 2019 | (my) pronouns |
| 2020 | Covid |
| 2021 | Insurrection |
| 2022 | -ussy |
Australian National Dictionary Centre[edit]
The Australian National Dictionary Centre has announced a Word of the Year each since 2006. The word is chosen by the editorial staff, and is selected on the basis of having come to some prominence in the Australian social and cultural landscape during the year.[2] The Word of the Year is often reported in the media as being Australia's word of the year,[3][4] but the word is not always an Australian word.
| Year | Word of the Year |
|---|---|
| 2006 | podcast |
| 2007 | me-tooism |
| 2008 | GFC |
| 2009 | |
| 2010 | vuvuzela |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | green-on-blue |
| 2013 | bitcoin[5] |
| 2014 | shirtfront[6] |
| 2015 | sharing economy |
| 2016 | democracy sausage |
| 2017 | Kwaussie |
| 2018 | Canberra bubble |
| 2019 | Voice |
| 2020 | iso |
| 2021 | strollout |
| 2022 | teal |
| 2023 | Matilda |
Cambridge Dictionary[edit]
The Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year, by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, has been published every year since 2015.[7] The Cambridge Word of the Year is led by the data - what users look up - in the world's most popular dictionary for English language learners[8].
| Year | Word of the Year |
|---|---|
| 2015 | austerity |
| 2016 | paranoid |
| 2017 | populism |
| 2018 | nomophobia |
| 2019 | upcycling |
| 2020 | quarantine[9] |
| 2021 | perseverance[10] |
| 2022 | homer |
| 2023 | hallucinate[11] |
Collins English Dictionary[edit]
The Collins English Dictionary has announced a Word of the Year every year since 2013, and prior to this, announced a new 'word of the month' each month in 2012. Published in Glasgow, UK, Collins English Dictionary has been publishing English dictionaries since 1819.[12]
Toward the end of each calendar year, Collins release a shortlist of notable words or those that have come to prominence in the previous 12 months. The shortlist typically comprises ten words, though in 2014 only four words were announced as the Word of the Year shortlist.
The Collins Words of the Year are selected by the Collins Dictionary team across Glasgow and London, consisting of lexicographers, editorial, marketing, and publicity staff, though previously the selection process has been open to the public.
Whilst the word is not required to be new to feature, the appearance of words in the list is often supported by usage statistics and cross-reference against Collins' extensive corpus to understand how language may have changed or developed in the previous year. The Collins Word of the Year is also not restricted to UK language usage, and words are often chosen that apply internationally as well, for example, fake news in 2017.[13]
| Year | Word of the Year | Shortlist | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013[14] | geek[15] | |||
| 2014[16] | photobomb[17] | |||
| 2015[18] | binge-watch[19] | |||
| 2016[20] | Brexit[21] | |||
| 2017[22] | fake news[23] | |||
| 2018[24] | single-use[25] | |||
| 2019[26] | climate strike[27] | |||
| 2020[28] | lockdown[29] | |||
| 2021 | NFT[30] |
| ||
| 2022 | permacrisis[31] |
| ||
| 2023 | AI[32] |
|
Dictionary.com[edit]
In 2010, Dictionary.com announced its first word of the year, 'change', and has done so in December every year since.[33] The selection is based on search trends on the site throughout the year and the news events that drive them.[34]
The following is the list of annual words since beginning with the first in 2010:[33]
| Year | Word of the Year |
|---|---|
| 2010 | change |
| 2011 | tergiversate |
| 2012 | bluster |
| 2013 | privacy |
| 2014 | exposure |
| 2015 | identity |
| 2016 | xenophobia |
| 2017 | complicit |
| 2018 | misinformation |
| 2019 | existential |
| 2020 | pandemic |
| 2021 | allyship |
| 2022 | woman |
Macquarie Dictionary[edit]
The Macquarie Dictionary, which is the dictionary of Australian English, updates the online dictionary each year with new words, phrases, and definitions. These can be viewed on their website.[35]
Each year the editors select a short-list of new words added to the dictionary and invite the public to vote on their favourite. The public vote is held in January and results in the People's Choice winner. The most influential word of the year is also selected by the Word of the Year Committee which is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Dr Michael Spence. The Editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, Susan Butler, is also a committee member. The Committee meets annually to select the overall winning words.
The following is the list of winning words since the Macquarie Word of the Year first began in 2006:
| Year | Committee's Choice | People's Choice | Honourable Mentions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | muffin top | ||
| 2007 | pod slurping | password fatigue | |
| 2008 | toxic debt | flashpacker |
|
| 2009 | shovel ready | tweet |
|
| 2010 | googleganger | shockumentary |
|
| 2011 | burqini | fracking |
|
| 2012 | phantom vibration syndrome | First World problem |
|
| 2013 | infovore[36] | onesie |
|
| 2014 | mansplain[37] | shareplate |
|
| 2015 | captain's call[38] | captain's call[39] |
|
| 2016 | fake news | halal snack pack |
|
| 2017 | milkshake duck[40][41] | framily[42] |
|
| 2018 | me too[43][44] | single-use[45] |
|
| 2019 | cancel culture | robodebt |
|
| 2020 | doomscrolling and rona | Karen and covidiot |
|
| 2021 | strollout[46] | strollout |
|
| 2022 | teal | bachelor's handbag[47] |
|
| 2023 | cozzie livs | generative AI |
|
Merriam-Webster[edit]
The lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year (for each year) are ten-word lists published annually by the American dictionary-publishing company Merriam-Webster, Inc., which feature the ten words of the year from the English language. These word lists started in 2003 and have been published at the end of each year. At first, Merriam-Webster determined its contents by analyzing page hits and popular searches on its website. Since 2006, the list has been determined by an online poll and by suggestions from visitors to the website.[48]
The following is the list of words that became Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year since 2003:[49]
| Year | Word of the Year | Shortlist |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | democracy |
|
| 2004 | blog |
|
| 2005 | integrity |
|
| 2006 | truthiness |
|
| 2007 | w00t |
|
| 2008 | bailout |
|
| 2009 | admonish |
|
| 2010 | austerity |
|
| 2011 | pragmatic |
|
| 2012 | socialism and capitalism |
|
| 2013 | science |
|
| 2014 | culture |
|
| 2015 | -ism |
|
| 2016 | surreal |
|
| 2017 | feminism |
|
| 2018 | justice |
|
| 2019 | they |
|
| 2020 | pandemic |
|
| 2021 | vaccine | |
| 2022 | gaslighting |
|
| 2023 | authentic |
Oxford[edit]
Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary and many other dictionaries, announces an Oxford Dictionaries UK Word of the Year and an Oxford Dictionaries US Word of the Year; sometimes these are the same word. The Word of the Year need not have been coined within the past twelve months but it does need to have become prominent or notable during that time. There is no guarantee that the Word of the Year will be included in any Oxford dictionary. The Oxford Dictionaries Words of the Year are selected by editorial staff from each of the Oxford dictionaries. The selection team is made up of lexicographers and consultants to the dictionary team, and editorial, marketing, and publicity staff.[50]
| Year | UK Word of the Year | US Word of the Year | Shortlist | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | chav | ||||
| 2005 | sudoku | podcast | |||
| 2006 | bovvered | carbon-neutral | |||
| 2007[51] | carbon footprint | locavore |
| ||
| 2008 | credit crunch | hypermiling | |||
| 2009 | simples | unfriend | |||
| 2010 | big society | refudiate | |||
| 2011 | squeezed middle | ||||
| 2012 | omnishambles | GIF (noun) | |||
| 2013[52] | selfie[53] | ||||
| 2014 | vape[54] |
| |||
| 2015 | 😂 (Face With Tears of Joy emoji)[55] | ||||
| 2016 | post-truth[56] | ||||
| 2017 | youthquake[57] |
| |||
| 2018 | toxic[58] |
| |||
| 2019 | climate emergency[59] | ||||
| 2020 | No single word chosen[60] | ||||
| 2021 | vax[61] | ||||
| 2022 | goblin mode[62][63] |
| |||
| 2023 | rizz[64] |
| |||
Grant Barrett[edit]
Since 2004, lexicographer Grant Barrett has published an unranked words-of-the-year list, usually in The New York Times.
- 2004
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013 in New York Times, also a more complete list
- 2014 in Dallas Morning News
Similar word lists[edit]
A Word a Year[edit]
Since 2004, Susie Dent, an English lexicographer has published a column, "A Word a Year", in which she chooses a single word from each of the last 101 years to represent preoccupations of the time. Susie Dent notes that the list is subjective.[65][66][67] Each year, she gives a completely different set of words.
Since Susie Dent works for the Oxford University Press, her words of choice are often incorrectly referred to as "Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year".
Other countries[edit]
In Germany, a Wort des Jahres has been selected since 1972 (for year 1971) by the Society of the German Language.[68] In addition, an Unwort des Jahres (Un-word of the year or No-no Word of the Year) has been nominated since 1991, for a word or phrase in public speech deemed insulting or socially inappropriate (such as "Überfremdung").[69] Similar selections are made each year since 1999 in Austria, 2002 in Liechtenstein, and 2003 in Switzerland. Since 2008, language publisher Langenscheidt supports a search for the German youth word of the year, which aims to find new words entering the language through the vernacular of young people.[70][71]
In Denmark, the Word of the year has been selected since 2008 by Danmarks Radio and Dansk Sprognævn.
Japan has held an annual word of the year contest called the "New and Trendy Word Grand Prix" (Shingo, ryūkōgo taishō) since 1984, sponsored by Jiyu Kokuminsha. In addition, the Kanji of the Year (kotoshi no kanji) has been selected since 1995, and both the kanji and the word/phrase of the year often reflect current Japanese events and attitudes. For example, in 2011, following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the frustratingly enigmatic phrase used by Japanese officials before the explosion regarding the possibility of a meltdown - "the possibility of recriticality is not zero" (Sairinkai no kanōsei zero de wa nai) - became the top phrase of the year. In the same year, the kanji for "bond" (i.e., family ties or friendship) became the kanji of the year, expressing the importance of collectiveness in the face of disaster.[72]
In Norway, the Word of the year poll is carried out since 2012.
In Portugal, the Word of the year poll is carried out since 2009.
In Russia, the Word of the year poll is carried out since 2007.
In Spain, the Word of the year is carried out by Fundéu since 2013.
In Ukraine, the Word of the year poll is carried out since 2013.
Reception[edit]
Some have claimed certain choices to be a publicity stunt.
😂 is not a word
"youthquake" to not be a word
See also[edit]
- Language Report from Oxford University Press
- Lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year
- Neologism
- Doublespeak Award
- Kanji of the year
Further reading[edit]
- John Ayto, "A Century of New Words", Series: Oxford Paperback Reference (2007) ISBN 0-19-921369-0
- John Ayto, "Twentieth Century Words", Oxford University Press (1999) ISBN 0-19-860230-8
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "» All of the Words of the Year, 1990 to Present American Dialect Society". Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "Australian National Dictionary Centre's Word of the Year 2016 | Ozwords". ozwords.org. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ "What exactly is a democracy sausage?". BBC News. December 14, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ "'Shirtfront' named Australia's word of the year". ABC News. December 10, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ Communications, CASS Marketing &; externalrelations.cass@anu.edu.au (December 23, 2013). "Bitcoin 2013 word of the year". ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ Ireland, Judith (December 10, 2014). "'Shirtfront' wins Australian National Dictionary Centre's word of the year award". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "The Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year 20** is ..." Retrieved September 21, 2023.
- ^ "Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year will be a sore spot for Wordle fans".
- ^ "Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year is 'quarantine'". The Times of India.
- ^ "'Perseverance' named Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year". Independent.co.uk. November 17, 2021.
- ^ "Cambridge Dictionary reveals word of the year for 2023". November 15, 2023.
- ^ "Collins English Dictionary | Definitions, Translations and Pronunciations". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ Collins Dictionary (November 1, 2017), Collins Dictionary announce their 2017 Word of the Year, archived from the original on December 12, 2021, retrieved October 11, 2018
- ^ "Collins Word of the Year 2013 is... – New on the blog – Word Lover's blog – Collins Dictionary". www.collinsdictionary.com. December 12, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ Topping, Alexandra (December 16, 2013). "Geek deemed word of the year by the Collins online dictionary". the Guardian. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ susanwright (November 5, 2014). "The year that was...Lucy Mangan looks at the Collins Word of the Year shortlist". Collins Dictionary Language Blog. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "And the Collins English Dictionary word of the year is..." The Irish Times. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ susanwright (November 5, 2015). "'Binge-watch' - Collins Word of the Year 2015". Collins Dictionary Language Blog. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "Binge-watch: Collins' Word of the Year". BBC News. November 5, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ "Top 10 Collins Words of the Year 2016". blog.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "'Brexit' is Collins' Word of the Year 2016 | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ susanwright (November 2, 2017). "Collins 2017 Word of the Year Shortlist". Collins Dictionary Language Blog. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "Fake news is officially 2017's word of the year". The Independent. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ "Collins 2018 Word of the Year Shortlist". blog.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "Collins Dictionary 2018 word of the year revealed". The Irish Times. November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- ^ susanwright (November 7, 2019). "Collins Word of the Year 2019 shortlist". Collins Dictionary Language Blog. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ Guy, Jack (November 7, 2019). "'Climate strike' named Collins' word of the year for 2019". CNN. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ susanwright (November 10, 2020). "The year of lockdown". Collins Dictionary Language Blog. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "Collins - the Collins Word of the Year 2020 is".
- ^ "Get your crypto at the ready: NFTs are big in 2021". Collins Dictionary Language Blog. November 24, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
- ^ susanwright (November 1, 2022). "A year of 'permacrisis'". Collins Dictionary Language Blog. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
- ^ susanwright (November 1, 2023). "The acceleration of AI and other 2023 trends". Collins Dictionary Language Blog. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
- ^ a b "What Dictionary.com's words of the year say about us". cnn. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ "Existential' crowned word of the year by Dictionary.com". Click on Detroit. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year
- ^ "The Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year is ..." The Conversation. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
- ^ "Macquarie Dictionary words of the year: 'mansplain' and 'share plate'". The Sydney Morning Herald. February 5, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- ^ "Tony Abbott's lexical legacy: Captain's call is 2015 Word of the Year". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
- ^ "Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year". Macquarie Dictionary. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
- ^ Webb, Tiger (January 15, 2018). "Why 'milkshake duck' is the perfect choice for word of the year". ABC News. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ "The Committee's Choice for Word of the Year 2017 goes to..." Macquarie Dictionary. January 15, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ "Committee's Choice and People's Choice announced!". Macquarie Dictionary. January 23, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
- ^ Webb, Tiger (January 15, 2019). "Macquarie Dictionary word of the year goes to 'me too', in a year filled with digital uncertainty". ABC News. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ "The Committee's Choice for Word of the Year 2018 goes to..." Macquarie Dictionary. January 15, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ "Committee's Choice and People's Choice announced!". Macquarie Dictionary. December 19, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ "Strollout chosen as Macquarie dictionary's 2021 word of the year". the Guardian. November 29, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
- ^ "Australia's word of the year has been revealed". SBS News. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
- ^ "Merriam-Webster launches 'Word of the Year' online poll". CNET. November 27, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- ^ "Word of the Year Archive". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
- ^ Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year: Frequently Asked Questions (viewed November 20, 2013).
- ^ OUPblog (November 12, 2007). "Oxford Word Of The Year 2007: Locavore". OUPblog. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
- ^ "Selfie is Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year". The Guardian. November 19, 2013. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
- ^ The Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013 is... (viewed November 20, 2013).
- ^ Grisham, Lori (November 18, 2014). "Oxford names 'vape' 2014 Word of the Year". USA Today. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
- ^ "Word of the Year 2015". Oxford Dictionaries. November 16, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ "Word of the Year 2016 is... | Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
- ^ "Oxford Word of the Year 2017". Oxford Languages. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- ^ "Toxic: Oxford Dictionaries sums up the mood of 2018 with word of the year". CNN. November 15, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ Zhou, Naaman (November 20, 2019). "Oxford Dictionaries declares 'climate emergency' the word of 2019". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. "Climate emergency" was named word of the year.
- ^ Words of an Unprecedented Year (PDF), Oxford University Press, November 20, 2020, retrieved December 8, 2020
- "Oxford Word of the Year 2020". Oxford University Press.
- ^ "'Vax' Chosen as Word of the Year by Oxford - November 1, 2021". Daily News Brief. November 1, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ James, Imogen (December 5, 2022). "Oxford word of the year 2022 revealed as 'goblin mode'". BBC News. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- ^ "Oxford Word of the Year 2022". Oxford Languages. Oxford University Press. 2022. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- ^ "Oxford Word of the Year 2023 | Oxford Languages". languages.oup.com. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
- ^ A Word a Year: 1906–2006
- ^ A Word a Year: 1905–2005[dead link]
- ^ A Word a Year: 1904–2004[dead link]
- ^ German Word of the Year
- ^ "Unword of the year" in Germany
- ^ "This is the German youth word of the year for 2020". The Local Germany. October 15, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
- ^ "The word of the year (whether we like it or not)". The Spectator. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
- ^ Miller, Laura (2017). "Japan's trendy Word Grand Prix and Kanji of the Year: Commodified language forms in multiple contexts". Language and Materiality: Ethnographic and Theoretical Explorations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–28.
External links[edit]
- Top words from 2000 – present @ Global Language Monitor
- Word of the Year Archive @ Macquarie Dictionary
- Word of the Year Archive @ Merriam-Webster
- Word of the Year Archive @ OxfordWords blog
- Austrian Word of the Year
- Canadian Word of the Year
- Liechtenstein Word of the Year
- Switzerland Word of the Year
- Dictionary.com word of the year @ Dictionary.com