At the end of every calendar year, dictionaries count the number of times different words are searched/looked up.
The dictionaries then publish a list of the most often searched words during the year.
These words are the most often looked up words throughout the year, with several spikes that corresponded to various news reports and events. The general rise in lookups tells us that many people are interested in this word; specific spikes give us insight into some of the reasons why.
My pick would be conflagration (noun) - meaning conflict or war.
I cannot remember hearing the word used to describe political matters, that is, until this year.
"Making matters significantly worse, both U.S. and North Korean doctrine call for the first use of nuclear weapons in a conflict, thus the chance of a nuclear conflagration is extremely high."
"Wisconsin was in many ways an unlikely spot for such a political conflagration.
Some of the most popular new words of 2017.
Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year 2017 is… youthquake (noun).
- defined as "a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people".
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2017 is... feminism (noun).
- defined as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests.”
Cambridge's Word of the Year for 2017 is... populism (noun).
- defined as "political ideas and activities that are intended to get the support of ordinary people by giving them what they want".
Collins Word of the Year 2017 is... fake news.
This phrase is defined as "false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting".
Other popular words in 2017 included:
Syzygy (noun) - the nearly straight line configuration of three celestial bodies in a gravitational system,e/g., sun-moon-earth alignment during a solar eclipse.
Complicit (adjective) - choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having complicity.
Recuse (verb) - to withdraw, reject or challenge (a judge or juror) as disqualified to act, especially because of interest or bias.
Empathy (noun) - the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another person's feelings
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WHICH NEW WORD OR PHRASE DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE THE TOP WORD OF 2017?
I nominate: alternative facts as the phrase of the year. Apparently it was used by the U.S. Counselor to the President on January 22, 2017. How many times of you heard it since then?
Jerry, The ¨alternative facts¨ phrase came to mind as I was trying to figure out what the alternative to ¨diagnostic critieria¨ would be for a disorder crafted by the author of ¨Reclaiming the American Right.¨ What a hoot.
I saw this Tweet from Trump recently and admit that I contracted Trump Derangement Syndrome:
"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen,..."
I realise that Trump is normal and so the problem must lie with me. But I don't know what to do about it.
youthquake: /ˈjuːθkweɪk/ (n): the experience when you're enjoying peace and quiet and young people come in and ruin it all
Syzygy: /sɪzɪzɪzɪzgŋɫʌɚɪ̈ɒɹɾəɚ/ (interj.): the sound one makes when being electrocuted
Fake News: /feɪlɪŋ nju jɔ:rk taɪmz/ (n): syn: real news
Great discussion Richard! So many words, phrases and memes this year brought us; it´s hard to choose one most representative of our tumultous times. Also "covfefe", just WTF jajajaja.
Personally I´d choose "fake news" as the most representative expression for 2017, but I choose it out of a twitter a guy from Spain who I cannot remember now posted. It was written in Spanish, so I´ll try to translate and also paraphrase since I can´t remember his textual words, it was something like this:
-Why do Spanish speaking journalists insist on using the term "fake news" when we (Spanish speakers) already have a beautiful word to describe the same? The word is "paparruchas".-
Then he posted the Royal Spanish Academy´s definition for "paparrucha", which I´ll try to translate here as well:
paparrucha (colloquial): 1. false and foolish news about an event spread across the populace
2. Foolishness, stupidity, insubstancial dumb thing
So I just kept hoping Spanish speaking journalists would heed his call to no avail lol
Spanish students could well repeat that word too, those who need to learrrrrn how to rrrrrroll theirrrr double rr too :)
Anyway, I´m certain 2018 will bring us a lot of unexpected things again, and also I second @denis with all that bitcoin thing. That was a financial rollercoaster if I ever saw one!
