Word building of the year

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline «Halfway home»

From the December 17th 2022 edition

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The Oxford Corpus lists many vivid examples of goblin mode, including “Goblin mode is like when you wake up at 2am and shuffle into the kitchen wearing nothing but a long t-shirt to make a weird snack, like melted cheese on saltines”, as quoted in The Guardian newspaper. More recently, an opinion piece in The Times stated that “too many of us… have gone ‘goblin mode’ in response to a difficult year.”

Speaking at a special event to announce this year’s approach to selecting the Oxford Word of the Year, Ben Zimmer, American linguist and lexicographer, said: “Goblin Mode really does speak to the times and the zeitgeist, and it is certainly a 2022 expression. People are looking at social norms in new ways. It gives people the license to ditch social norms and embrace new ones.”

Since the launch of the people’s choice vote, ‘goblin mode’ has captured the attention of many communities online, having been a runaway favourite on social media and within online publications, such as PC Gamer, which urged followers to “put aside [their] petty differences and vote for ‘goblin mode’.”

Casper Grathwohl, President, Oxford Languages, says:

“We were hoping the public would enjoy being brought into the process, but this level of engagement with the campaign caught us totally by surprise. The strength of the response highlights how important our vocabulary is to understanding who we are and processing what’s happening to the world around us. Given the year we’ve just experienced, ‘Goblin mode’ resonates with all of us who are feeling a little overwhelmed at this point. It’s a relief to acknowledge that we’re not always the idealized, curated selves that we’re encouraged to present on our Instagram and TikTok feeds. This has been demonstrated by the dramatic rise of platforms like BeReal where users share images of their unedited selves, often capturing self-indulgent moments in goblin mode. People are embracing their inner goblin, and voters choosing ‘goblin mode’ as the Word of the Year tells us the concept is likely here to stay.”

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.
List of American Dialect Society’s Words of the Year
In addition to the «Word of the Year», the society also selects words in other categories that vary from year to year. These categories have occurred in several years:

• Most useful
• Most creative
• Most unnecessary
• Most outrageous
• Most euphemistic
• Most likely to succeed
• Least likely to succeed

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.^[1] The Word of the Year is often reported in the media as being Australia’s word of the year,^[2][3] but the word is not always an Australian word.

Cambridge Dictionary[edit]

The Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year, by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, has been published every year since 2015.^[4] 

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^[5]. 

In 2022, the Cambridge Word of the Year was ‘homer’, caused by Wordle players looking up five-letter words, especially those that non-American players were less familiar with.^[6] 

In 2021, the Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year was ‘perseverance’.^[7] In 2020, ‘quarantine’.^[8]

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.^[9]

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.^[10]

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.^[73]

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:

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.^[86]

The following is the list of words that became Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year since 2003:^[87]

• 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^[88]
• 2018: justice
• 2019: they
• 2020: pandemic^[89]
• 2021: vaccine^[90]
• 2022: gaslighting

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.^[91]

Grant Barrett[edit]

Since 2004, lexicographer Grant Barrett has published a words-of-the-year list, usually in The New York Times, though he does not name a winner.

• 2004
• 2005
• 2006
• 2007
• 2008
• 2009
• 2010
• 2011
• 2012
• 2013 in New York Times, also a more complete list
• 2014 in Dallas Morning News

Dictionary.com[edit]

In 2010, Dictionary.com announced its first word of the year, ‘change’, and has done so in December every year since.^[107] The selection is based on search trends on the site throughout the year and the news events that drive them.^[108]

The following is the list of annual words since beginning with the first in 2010:^[107]

• 2010: Change
• 2011: Tergiversate
• 2012: Bluster
• 2013: Privacy
• 2014: Exposure
• 2015: Identity
• 2016: Xenophobia
• 2017: Complicit
• 2018: Misinformation
• 2019: Existential^[109]
• 2020: Pandemic
• 2021: Allyship
• 2022: Woman

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.^{[110][111][112]} 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.^[113] 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»).^[114] 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.^[115][116]

In Denmark, the Word of the year has been selected since 2008 by Danmarks Radio and Dansk Sprognævn.

In Japan, the Kanji of the year (kotoshi no kanji) has been selected since 1995. Kanji are adopted Chinese characters in Japanese language. Japan also runs an annual word of the year contest called » U-Can New and Trendy Word Grand Prix» (U-Can shingo, ryūkōgo taishō) sponsored by Jiyu Kokuminsha. Both the kanji and word/phrases of the year are often reflective of Japanese current events and attitudes. For example, in 2011 following the Fukushima power plant disaster, the frustratingly enigmatic phrase used by Japanese officials before the explosion regarding the possibility of 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 indicating ‘bond’ (i.e. familial bond or friendship) became the kanji of the year, expressing the importance of collectiveness in the face of disaster.^[117]

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.

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]

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

Calling 2020 «unique» feels like an understatement. Many things have changed this year, from the way we work to the way we function in society, and the Oxford English Dictionary «Word of the Year» is no different. Since 2020 has been hard to put into words, Oxford Languages had to adjust how they normally do things in response to a year full of surprises they couldn’t describe succinctly. Rather than having just one word represent 2020, Oxford moved to a full list of «Words of an Unprecedented Year.» Keep reading for all of the Oxford Words of the Year, and for words we should leave behind in 2020, check out these 5 Words to Ditch From Your Vocabulary ASAP.

Generally speaking, the (usually singular) Word of the Year is chosen to reflect the year it signifies. «The Oxford Word of the Year is a word or expression that is judged to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year, and have lasting potential as a term of cultural significance,» Oxford Languages explains. In 2018, the Word of the Year was «toxic,» and in 2019, it was «climate emergency.»

When faced with the challenge of selecting a word to reflect this tumultuous year, Oxford Languages couldn’t pick just one. The 2020 Words of an Unprecedented Year report says, «The English language, like all of us, has had to adapt rapidly and repeatedly this year. Given the phenomenal breadth of language change and development during 2020, Oxford Languages concluded that this is a year which cannot be neatly accommodated in one single word.»

Instead, Oxford Languages assigned Words of the Year to the months in which they reached their peak frequency of usage. Here are Oxford’s 2020 Words of an Unprecedented Year, and to see what words you should ditch, here are 4 Words the Dictionary Says You Should Stop Using.

At the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, the Australian bushfire season rolled in and became the worst in documented history. The bushfires across the country were fueled by record-breaking temperatures and lengthy bouts of severe drought. And for the etymology of other common words, discover The Amazing Origins of Everyday Slang Terms You Use Constantly.

Impeachment became a hot topic in January when President Donald Trump faced an impeachment trial.

In February, following Trump’s acquittal—allowing him to remain in office, despite being impeached—this word became popular. And for more useful information delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

By the end of March, «coronavirus» became «one of the most frequently used nouns in the English language, after being used to designate the SARS-CoV-2 virus,» according to the report.

While the word «coronavirus» already existed before the pandemic, «COVID-19» was a completely new word that reached the height of its popularity in April. According to the report, the term was first used by the World Health Organization as an abbreviation of «coronavirus disease 2019.» The term quickly became the more common designation.

In April, «lockdown» was the word on everyone’s lips as much of the world entered into government-enforced quarantine to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. And for cheerier words, check out The Most Beautiful Words in the English Language—And How to Use Them.

Governments across the globe introduced citizens to social distancing, the act of keeping six feet of distance between people to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As governments began to lift lockdown measures, the term «social distancing» spiked in popularity toward the end of April.

«Towards the Northern Hemisphere summer more hopeful words increased in frequency, including reopening,» says the report. The word «reopening» spiked in popularity in mid-May when used to refer to businesses, schools, restaurants, offices, and more that were able to open again.

The phrase «Black Lives Matter» originated in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. However, the phrase «exploded in usage beginning in June of this year, remaining at elevated levels for the rest of the year as protests against law enforcement agencies over the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans took root in communities across the United States and across the world,» according to the report. And if you are committed to anti-racism, ditch these 7 Common Phrases That You Didn’t Know Have Racist Origins.

A societal shift followed the resurgence of momentum behind the Black Lives Matter movement. People in positions of power began to get called out for their actions, which led to repercussions that some dubbed «cancel culture.» According to the report, cancel culture—which saw a surge in usage in July—is «the culture of boycotting and withdrawing support from public figures whose words and actions are considered socially unacceptable.» And for words you need to stop using, find out The One Word Older People Should Never Say.

BIPOC surged in usage in tandem with Black Lives Matter—the abbreviation stands for «Black, indigenous, and other people of color.»

The 2020 election is now over, but Americans were discussing the issue of voting in a presidential election amid a pandemic back in August. The report found that the term «mail-in» saw a 3,000 percent increase in use as compared to last year.

In August, the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus caused an uprising in the country. The adjective «Belarusian» skyrocketed in usage as a result.

As the UK government rolled out Moonshot, their plan for mass COVID testing, in September, the term rose to significance.

According to the report, the word «superspreader» dates back to the 1970s but gained popularity in 2020. «There was a particular spike in usage in October, mainly with reference to the well-publicized spread of cases in the White House,» says the report.

The report says the term net zero has been «on the rise as the year draws to an end: the recent increase partly relates to the historic pledge made by President Xi Jinping in September, that China will be carbon neutral by 2060.»