2017 Word of the Year

Unlike the wishes of the French – language evolves and changes over time. New words develop as new concepts, inventions, and discoveries require them. Every year the dictionary editors pick words of the year to recognize a word which is new in its usage or has risen to new prominence, to capture the mood or tone of the year.

Photo of open dictionary

Oxford Dictionary 2017 word of the year – Youthquake is defined as “a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people”.  The Millenials are fighting back; they are a massive generation and will shape the world in their youthquake.  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/youthquake-named-oxford-dictionaries-word-11699154 The editors liked it because it had a hopeful ring to it.

Collins Dictionary 2017 word of the year – Fake News   Personally, I despise the term; it dances around the matter of fictional news or just erroneous. Just as Ronald Regan had “misinformation”. When I grew up, it was simply called lying.   https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/woty Contest for a Fake news Mug on the page if you scroll down.

American Merriam-Webster 2017 word of the year- Feminism. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/feminism-is-merriam-websters-2017-word-of-the-year-w513927  Peter Sokolowski, Editor at Large for Merriam-Webster, said  “ when we look back at the past twelve months and combine an analysis of words that have been looked up much more frequently than during the previous year along with instances of intense spikes of interest because of news events, we see that one word stands out in both categories.”  https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/nation-now/2017/12/12/merriam-webster-names-feminism-its-word-year/943466001/

Dictionary.com chooses “complicit” as its 2017 word of the year.   “The site defines the word as “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act” and “having partnership or involvement in wrongdoing.” http://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year-2017/ http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/27/world/complicit-dictionary-word-year-2017-trnd/index.html

Leave a Comment

Filed under Awards and Recognitions, Word Builder

Comments are closed.