As 2022 winds down, our fellow dictionaries from around the world are announcing their words of the year.
Collins Dictionary had announced their Word of the Year as permacrisis. Making the announcement, Collins said that:
It is one of several words Collins highlights that relate to ongoing crises the UK and the world have faced and continue to face, including political instability, the war in Ukraine, climate change, and the cost-of-living crisis.
All dictionaries have different criteria for selecting their Word of the Year. Some, like the Cambridge Dictionary, select their word based on search numbers meaning a word that has a spike in popularity can become Word of the Year. Based on this crteria, the Cambridge Word of the Year for 2022 is homer. According to the Cambridge:
The spike in searches for homer was caused by players of Wordle, a popular online word game in which users have six chances to guess a five-letter English word. When homer was the answer for May 5, speakers of American English immediately recognized it as an informal word for a home run in baseball. However, many players outside the US had not heard this word before. Huge numbers of players expressed their frustration and annoyance on social media, but many also turned to the Cambridge Dictionary to find out more.
The Australian National Dictionary Centre has chosen its Word of the Year as teal. Teal is also on the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year shortlist.
The centre’s Senior Researcher, Mark Gwynn, said this year’s choice was relatively easy because the word was prominent throughout the election campaign, continues to be widely used and looks likely to be talked about for some time yet.
“Teal is a word that has become associated with a new and significant movement in Australian politics, and one that is also linguistically productive,” Mr Gwynn said.
Vote now for your Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year
Stay tuned for our announcement of the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year 2022.
