The Committee’s Choice for the 2016 Word of the Year is fake news. Honourable mentions go to enby and halal snack pack.
Committee’s comment
The concept of fake news is one of the big issues of 2016, not only in Australia but around the world. It captures an interesting evolution in the creation of deceptive content as a way of herding people in a specific direction. There has come a point with fake news where people are beginning to believe what they want to believe, whether or not the news story is actually true.
Committee’s comment
Enby is an interesting construction; it has moved from the abbreviation NB (for non-binary) to a word in its own right. Gender identity has been a powerful part of the political discourse in Australia over the past year.
Committee’s comment
The significance of halal snack pack is that it tells us about something once confined largely to the Muslim community that is now surfacing throughout the broader Australian community.
The Committee for the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2016
People’s Choice
Now it’s YOUR turn to have a say. Do you agree or disagree with the Committee? Read through the shortlist below and vote for your top three now!
Nominations for Word of the Year are selected from new words included in the annual update of the Macquarie Dictionary Online in 2016. The Committee is provided with a list of 75 words from which they select a top 15 for you to vote on. Voting for the People’s Choice Word of the Year closes on Tuesday 31 January at 5:00pm AEDT.
The Committee’s top 15 are as below.
Download the Committee’s Choice top 15 shortlist as text or images.
