Word of the year


The word of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY", refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word or expression 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. However, various other organizations also announce Words of the Year for a variety of purposes.

American Dialect Society

Since 1991, the American Dialect Society has designated one or more words or terms to be the "Word of the Year" in the United States
At the end of each decade, the society also chooses a Word of the Decade: web for the 1990s, google for the 2000s, and singular they for the 2010s. In 2000, jazz was selected as "Word of the 20th Century", and she as "Word of the Past Millennium".

Selection

Other candidates for "Word of the Year" have included:
In addition to the "Word of the Year", the society also selects words in other categories that vary from year to year:

Most useful

The Australian National Dictionary Centre has announced a Word of the Year each December 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. The Word of the Year is often reported in the media as being Australia's word of the year, but the word is not always an Australian word.
YEAR
2006podcast
2007
2008GFC
2009twitter
2010vuvuzela
2011
2012green-on-blue
2013bitcoin
2014
2015sharing economy
2016democracy sausage
2017
2018
2019Voice

Collins English Dictionary

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.
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.
YearWord of the YearDefinitionShortlist
2013If you call someone, usually a man or boy, a geek, you are saying in an unkind way that they are stupid, awkward, or weak.
Bitcoin
Phablet
Plebgate
Fracker
Cybernat
Thigh gap
Olinguito
Black Friday
Payday lending
Harlem Shake
2014If you photobomb someone, you spoil a photograph of them by stepping in front of them as the photograph is taken, often doing
something silly such as making a funny face.		Tinder
Bakeoff
Normcore
Devo Max
2015If you binge-watch a television series, you watch several episodes one after another in a short time.Dadbod
Shaming
Corbynomics
Clean eating
Ghosting
Swipe
Contactless
Manspreading
Transgender
2016The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union in March 2019.Hygge
Mic drop
Trumpism
Throw shade
Sharenting
Snowflake generation
Dude food
Uberization
JOMO
2017False, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting.Antifa
Corbynmania
Cuffing season
Echo chamber
Fidget spinner
Gender-fluid
Gig economy
Insta
Unicorn
2018Single-useMade to be used once only.Backstop
Floss
Gammon
Gaslight
MeToo
Plogging
VAR
Vegan
Whitewash
2019Climate strikeBopo
Cancel
Deepfake
Double down
Entryist
Hopepunk
Influencer
Nonbinary
Rewilding

''Macquarie Dictionary''

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.
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:
YearCommittee's ChoicePeople's Choice
2006muffin top
2007pod slurpingpassword fatigue
2008toxic debtflashpacker
2010googlegangershockumentary
2011burqinifracking
2012phantom vibration syndromeFirst World problem
2013infovoreonesie
2014mansplainshareplate
2015captain's callcaptain's call
2017milkshake duckframily
2018me toosingle-use
2019cancel culturerobodebt

Merriam-Webster

The lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the 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.
The following is the list of words that became Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year since 2003:
, 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.

Grant Barrett

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.
In 2010, Dictionary.com announced its first word of the year, ‘change’, and has done so in December every year since. The selection is based on search trends on the site throughout the year and the news events that drive them.
The following is the list of annual words since beginning with the first in 2010:

A Word a Year

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. 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

In Germany, a Wort des Jahres has been selected since 1972 by the Society of the German Language. In addition, an Unwort des Jahres has been nominated since 1991, for a word or phrase in public speech deemed insulting or socially inappropriate. Similar selections are made each year since 1999 in Austria, 2002 in Liechtenstein, and 2003 in Switzerland.
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 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" 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" - became the top phrase of the year. In the same year, the kanji indicating 'bond' became the kanji of the year, expressing the importance of collectiveness in the face of disaster.
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 Ukraine, the Word of the year poll is carried out since 2013.