Dec 11 2021 - Oxford has the word for 2021

 

Is choosing the word of the year a sizeable task?  Does it carry prestige for those involved?  Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year for 2021 is unsurprisingly "Vax".  I expect they did a google search and were done.   The BBC would consider this a prestigious activity as their headline in November was:  "Vax declared Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year."  I can hear the bells ringing at noon on November 1st, 2021.  The word is out!   The OED senior editor is Fiona McPerson and what was her official comment?  "Vax was an obvious choice as it has made the most striking impact."  I don't think it takes a senior editor to determine that vax was seldom used until 2021.   You likely know that tax comes from the Latin word vac, which means cow.  According to the OED, this is due to English physician and scientist Edward Jenner's pioneering work on vaccination against smallpox using cowpox - a mild infection that occurs in cows - in the late 1790s and early 1800s. The more interesting story is that the first anti-vaxxers through they would give birth to half-cow babies.  That was in the early 19th century when British people finally had access to the first vaccine in history, which was for smallpox. That was a deadly disease.  The anti-vaxxers went to great lengths:  the injection of cow material into a human body could cause a person to begin to resemble a cow, sprouting actual horns out of his head and hoofs in place of feet. And so on.  What won out then was mandatory vaccinations that lead to the massive drop in cases and deaths, without resulting in any cow-babies.  We don't know what will happen this time.  I guess the advice would be:  stay tuned. And the word of the year amongst other experts - Collins Dictionary's word of the year is NFT - non-fungible token.  Something that has caused a great stir, but not likely to lead to riots.    Distortion is the subject of our images today - decorations from the Fantasy of Trees to create some swirly abstracts.

Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Jan 5 - Looking Back at Last Year...In Words

What about last year's word of the year - the Oxford Word of the Year in 2018 is toxic.    "The Oxford Word of the Year is a word or expression that is judged to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year, and have lasting potential as a term of cultural significance. In 2018, toxic added many strings to its poisoned bow becoming an intoxicating descriptor for the year’s most talked about topics. It is the sheer scope of its application, as found by our research, that made toxic the stand-out choice for the Word of the Year title". The statistical analysis indicates that there was a 45% rise in the number of times it has been looked up on oxford dictionaries.com.  What was it used to describe?  Here is Oxford Dictionaries' Top 10 ‘toxic’ collocates in 2018 by absolute frequency: Chemical Masculinity Substance Gas Environment Relationship Culture Waste Algae Air The article HERE describes how this word occurred in the the year's events - from the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer and his daughter, to the spread of toxic waster from hurricanes, to businesses and people with harmful workplace environments and sexual harassment, to Brett Kavanagh's behaviour that got attention and the label of toxic masculinity. The shortlisted words prove to be intriguing.  I had to read the article to find out what most of these words mean.  It is very interesting - find the article HERE. gaslighting incel techlash gammon big dick energy cakeism overtourism orbiting  We're looking at a few more aquarium pictures today.

Is Fake News a Dumpster Fire?

How did 2017 end and how will 2018 start?  In word terms, I mean.  We can easily find out about 2017 - there's a word of the year.  Wikipedia defines the word of the year:  "The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY" (or "WotY"), refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere during a specific year." The official dictionary sites report on the most searched word of the year and seems to be based on quantity - statistics rather than quality - assessments. The English Oxford Living Dictionaries says that the word of the Year for 2017 is... youthquake, defined as ‘a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people’. Dictionary.com has this word: Complicit.   Merriam-Webster's 2017 Words of the Year is Feminism, followed by dotard, gaffe, syzygy, and others. The Collins Dictionary word of the year is... Fake News. Wikipedia looks to the American Dialect Society for the definitive word.  Members in the 129-year-old organization include linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, editors, students, and independent scholars, according to the ADS release. Their word of the year is "Fake News." The society chose the phrase on Jan. 5th. They defined it as “disinformation or falsehoods presented as real news” and “actual news that is claimed to be untrue.” It was selected for “best representing the public discourse and preoccupations of the past year.”  What did they have to say about it? “When President Trump latched on to fake news early in 2017, he often used it as a rhetorical bludgeon to disparage any news report that he happened to disagree with,” said Ben Zimmer, chair of the American Dialect Society’s New Words Committee. “That obscured the earlier use of fake news for misinformation or disinformation spread online, as was seen on social media during the 2016 presidential campaign.” Here is the ADS' full list of words over the years.  And how does fake news relate to dumpster fire?  ADS' word last year was dumpster fire - (US, slang) A chaotic,unpleasant, unmanageable thing, situation or person:  a disaster. To find out about the origins of this expression, look at the Huffington Post article.  In the personal realm, there is a movement that seeks out a word to define one's year ahead. This kind of choosing relates to New Year's Resolutions.  Take a look at connect.org for more on this. Here are two of my favourite locations - the underground walkway at rush hour in Toronto's Scotia Plaza and the Charles Daley Park willow tree.