Words of the Year for 2022
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Permacrisis declared Collins Dictionary word of the year
Permacrisis - a word describing the feeling of living through a period of war, inflation, and political instability - has been chosen as Collins Dictionary's word of the year.
It "sums up just how truly awful 2022 has been for so many people", said Alex Beecroft, head of Collins Learning.
It led Collins's annual compilation of 10 words or phrases which "reflect our ever-evolving language and the preoccupations of those who use it".
Quiet quitting also made the list.
This phrase is "the act of doing one's basic duties at work and no more, either by way of protest or to improve work/life balance".
Mr Beecroft added: "Language can be a mirror to what is going on in society and the wider world, and this year has thrown up challenge after challenge."
He said it was understandable that people may feel "we are in an ongoing state of uncertainty and worry", after "living through upheaval caused by Brexit, the pandemic, severe weather, the war in Ukraine, political instability, the energy squeeze and the cost-of-living crisis".
Collins's lexicographers said several words on the list relate to these crises.
The list was compiled by monitoring the eight billion-word Collins Corpus database of words, plus a range of media sources, including social media.
Permacrisis is one of six words on the list that are new to CollinsDictionary.com, and was first noted as a word in academic contexts in the 1970s.
Mr Beecroft added: "Our list this year reflects the state of the world right now - not much good news, although, with the determination of the Ukrainian people reflected by the inclusion of Kyiv, and the dawn of the new Carolean age in the UK, there are rays of hope."
Here is the list of the top 10 words and phrases in alphabetical order, plus their definitions in full:
Carolean: Of or relating to Charles III of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or his reign.
Kyiv: The capital of Ukraine, on the Dnipro River.
Lawfare: The strategic use of legal proceedings to intimidate or hinder an opponent.
Partygate: A political scandal over social gatherings held in British government offices during 2020 and 2021 in defiance of the public health restrictions that prevailed at the time.
Permacrisis: An extended period of instability and insecurity, especially one resulting from a series of catastrophic events.
Quiet quitting: The practice of doing no more work than one is contractually obliged to do, especially in order to spend more time on personal activities; the practice of doing little or no work while being present at one's place of employment.
Splooting: The act of lying flat on the stomach with the legs stretched out.
Sportswashing: The sponsorship or promotion of sporting events in order to enhance a tarnished reputation or distract attention from a controversial activity.
Vibe shift: A significant change in a prevailing cultural atmosphere or trend.
Warm bank: A heated building where people who cannot afford to heat their own homes may go.
Last year's word of the year for the Oxford Dictionary was vax, while words related to vaccines spiked in frequency in 2021 because of Covid, with double-vaxxed, unvaxxed and anti-vaxxer all seeing a surge in use.
Previous Collins' words of the year include lockdown, climate strike, single-use, fake news, Brexit, binge-watch, photobomb and geek.
The Oxford Dictionary's previous words of the year include climate emergency, toxic, youthquake, post-truth, emoji-tears-of-joy, vape and selfie.
'Gaslighting' is named the word of 2022 according to the Merriam-Webster after searches on its website soared 1,740% in a year
- There was not a single event which drove spikes in the curiosity of searchers
- It was a word that was looked up frequently every single day of the year
- Gaslighting is the psychological manipulation of a person over a period of time
There was not a single event which drove spikes in the curiosity of searchers for the term, which usually happens when there is a new word of the year. Merriam Webster defines gaslighting as the psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time.
Gaslighting causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.
The word first appeared in 1938, despite its recent prominence and being used in 'Gaslighter' The Chicks 2020 album. Its use in 1938 was for a play called 'Gas Light' by Patrick Hamilton.
In the 1940s, there were two film adaptations of the play. There was one in 1944 by George Cukor called Gaslight, starring Ingrid Bergman as Paula Alquist and Charles Boyer as Gregory Anton.
The story sees the two marrying after a whirlwind romance, with Gregory turning out to be a big gaslighter. One instance sees him insist that the complaints she makes about the constant dimming of their London townhouse's gaslights are a figment of her troubled mind- it wasn't.
When Angela Lansbury died in October, there was an increase in lookups of the word. She had played Nancy Oliver in Gaslight, a young maid hired by Gregory and told not to bother his 'high-strung' wife.
Later, the term was used by mental health professionals to clinically describe a form of prolonged coercive control in abusive relationships.
Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor at large, said: 'There is this implication of an intentional deception.
'And once one is aware of that deception, it´s not just a straightforward lie, as in, you know, I didn´t eat the cookies in the cookie jar.
'It´s something that has a little bit more devious quality to it. It has possibly an idea of strategy or a long-term plan.'
Mr Sokolowskisaid: 'It's a word that has risen so quickly in the English language, and especially in the last four years, that it actually came as a surprise to me and to many of us. It was a word looked up frequently every single day of the year.'
'Gaslighting,' Sokolowski said, spent all of 2022 in the top 50 words looked up on merriam-webster.com to earn top dog word of the year status.
The team does not analyze why people look up words. Reasons can be anything from spelling and definition checks to attempts at inspiration and motivation.
Some of the droves who looked up 'gaslighting' this year might have wanted to know, simply, if it's one or two words, or whether it's hyphenated. Last year's pick was 'vaccine.'
- Gaslighting
- 'Oligarch,' driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
- 'Omicron,' the persistent COVID-19 variant and the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.
- 'Codify,' as in turning abortion rights into federal law.
- 'Queen consort,' what King Charles´ wife, Camilla is newly known as.
- 'Raid,' as in the search of former President Donald Trump´s Mar-a-Lago home.
- 'Sentient,' with lookups brought on by Google canning the engineer who claimed an unreleased AI system had become sentient.
- 'Cancel culture,' enough said.
- 'LGBTQIA,' for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual, aromantic or agender.
- 'Loamy,' which many Wordle users tried back in August, though the right word that day was 'clown.'
Oxford word of the year 2022 revealed as 'goblin mode'
The first Oxford word of the year to be chosen by public vote has been announced.
The winning word, "goblin mode", is a slang term describing "unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy" behaviour.
It was one of three potential choices selected by Oxford lexicographers.
Thousands managed to drag themselves out of goblin mode to vote, as the phrase won by a landslide with 318,956 votes, making up 93% of the total.
So, what does goblin mode mean exactly?
According to Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, it is a slang term often used in the expressions such as "I am in goblin mode" or "to go goblin mode".
It went on to explain it as "a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations".
The term started appearing online in 2009, but went viral earlier this year over a fictitious headline scandal involving actress and model Julia Fox as well as a popular Reddit post describing someone who has been acting like a goblin.
As Covid restrictions eased, the term continued to grow as people realised they did not want to go back to the way life was before.
It prompted a campaign for its selection, with the PC Gamer magazine asking readers to "put aside our petty differences and vote for 'goblin mode' over 'metaverse' as the Oxford Word of the Year", because "goblin mode rules".
It's perhaps hard to argue with that logic when many of us can feel a little goblin-like occasionally.
It is the first time the word of the year has been chosen by the public, a decision made in a year organisers described as "more divided than ever".
Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said that people have been embracing their inner goblin.
He added: "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."
The runner up was metaverse with 14,484 votes, followed by #IStandWith with 8,639 votes.
TV word expert Susie Dent said that she was voting for #IStandWith.
Speaking to BBC News, Ms Dent explained that Oxford Languages has always been clear that its word of the year does not always need to be a singular term.
Speaking about the winning word, she said: "It seems in some ways quite a frivolous choice but actually the more you dig into it the more you realise it is actually a kind of reaction to the existing state of affairs. We're sort of retreating and no longer want our life to be curated by filters."
Last year's word of the year was vax, echoing the interest in vaccines after a coronavirus vaccine was released.
Comments
The word of the year for Collins Dictionary is Permacrisis that means the feeling of living through a period of war, inflation and political instability or an extended period of instability and insecurity because of catastrophic events.
However, Merriam-Webster said that the word of the year for 2022 is Gaslighting that means the psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time, as a form of prolonged coercive control in abuse relationships, although it can be used by politicians, newsmakers, romantic partners, friends, family and so on.
Oxford Languages chose "Goblin mode" as the first word of the year. This term means unapologetically self indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy behaviour to rejects social norms or expectations.
I like the expression "Quiet quitting" that means the practice of doing no more work that one is contractually obliged. In this way, you would get time to do what you want and you don´t waste your time with your boss.
See you.
Many of these words are just fads; I reckon that just a few of them will linger on. "Permacrisis" is a politically motivated choice by people who blame Brexit for all the ills in the world. I've been hearing the term "gaslighting" a lot recently in social media and in the news - another woke word that you won't catch me using. As an ex-civil servant, I'm not the least bit surprised that you like "quiet quitting". Your former workplace was teeming with quiet quitters and not so quiet quitters - haha. I am permanently in "goblin mode" in that I don't follow the flock and do what is expected of me. Which reminds me of "sheeple" - I'll send you a tweet about it now.
The word of the year for Collins Dictionary is Permacrisis, which means the feeling of living through a period of war, inflation and political instability or an extended period of instability and insecurity because of catastrophic events.
However, Merriam-Webster said that the word of the year for 2022 is gaslighting which means the psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time, as a form of prolonged coercive control in abuse relationships, although it can be used by politicians, newsmakers, romantic partners, friends, family and so on.
Oxford chose "Goblin mode" as the top word of the year. This term means unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy behaviour to reject social norms or expectations.
I like the expression "Quiet quitting" which means the practice of doing no more work that one is contractually obliged. In this way, you would get time to do what you want and you don´t waste your time with your boss.