Terminology: WOTTIES (2) - The 2023 OED WOTY Shortlist and Finalists.

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

In 2023, the selection of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Word of the Year (WOTY) was a three-step process. First, Oxford lexicographers and terminologists monitored and analyzed the 2.1 billion-word Oxford English Corpus (OEC) for trends. They looked for words and phrases that captured: “ethos, mood, or preoccupations of a particular year, and which have potential to provide a snapshot of social history through language”, alternatively that appear to “have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance”. A process that resulted in the selection of a Shortlist, comprising eight terms and phrases. 

Secondly, the public was invited to vote for four 2023 WOTY contenders, out of the eight Shortlisted terms and phrases. Finally, the four WOTY contenders, designated the four 2023 WOTY Finalists, were submitted to a committee of expert Oxford terminologists and lexicographers for selection of the definitive 2023 Word of the Year.

Below, the eight Shortlisted terms and phrases, together with their definitions,  four of which Shortlisted terms and phrases were voted contending Finalists, before submission to the committee of Oxford experts that selected the 2023 winner of them all: ‘rizz’. The  contending Finalists (i.e., prompt, situationship and swiftie) appear starred. The expert-selected 2023 WOTY 'rizz', at the very end of the list, is underlined. 

• beige flag (noun). A character trait that indicates that a partner or potential partner is boring or lacks originality; (also) a trait or habit, esp. of a partner or potential partner, viewed as extremely characteristic, but not distinctly good or bad. 
• de-influencing (noun). The practice of discouraging people from buying particular products, or of encouraging people to reduce their consumption of material goods, esp. via social media. 
• heat dome (noun). A persistent high-pressure weather system over a particular geographic area, which traps a mass of hot air below it. 
• parasocial (adjective). Designating a relationship characterized by the one-sided, unreciprocated sense of intimacy felt by a viewer, fan, or follower for a well-known or prominent figure (typically a media celebrity), in which the follower or fan comes to feel (falsely) that they know the celebrity as a friend.

*prompt (noun). An instruction given to an artificial intelligence program, algorithm, etc., which determines or influences the content it generates.

*situationship (noun). A romantic or sexual relationship that is not considered to be formal or established.

*swiftie (noun). An enthusiastic fan of the singer Taylor Swift. 

 rizz (noun). Style, charm or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner.  

References

Staff - Oxford Word of the Year 2023.

https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2023/

Staff (Nov. 27, 2023). Eight words go head-to-head for Oxford Word of the Year 2023

https://corp.oup.com/news/eight-words-go-head-to-head-for-oxford-word-of-the-year-2023/ 

Terminology: WOTTIES (1) - ‘RIZZ’ OED Word of the Year 2023.

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) selected ‘rizz’ as the Word of the Year (WOTY). Rizz? Yes, ‘RIZZ’! A Generation Z word, short for 'charisma'. A term used widely online, and in social media, both as a verb (e.g., 'to rizz-up', meaning to woo or seduce someone), and as a noun (e.g., "rizz is all that it takes”). 

The OED notes that the abbreviation ‘rizz’ is unusual in that it is extracted from the middle of the word 'charisma', like 'fridge' for 'refrigerator' or 'flu' for 'influenza'. ‘Rizz’ also acquired its own spelling in abbreviation, independently from the term 'charisma', marking the written form of the term as a neologism. 

In June 2023, the Oxford English Corpus (OEC), containing 2.1 billion words, recorded a dramatic spike in the use of the term 'rizz’, following a 30-question Buzzfeed Interview with the British actor Tom Holland (aka Spiderman). Holland responded: “I have no rizz whatsoever” to the question: “What's the secret to your rizz?.” (Aniftos, 2023) 

Selection of the OED WOTY is a carefully monitored process in the hands of Oxford terminologists and lexicographers, based on an analysis of the Oxford English Corpus (OEC) trends (Oxford Staff, Nov. 30, 2023). However, since 2022, the general public has been invited to participate in the selection of the OED WOTY. 

Below, the OED definition of the term ‘rizz’, announced as the Word of the Year 2023, on December 4, 2023.

References

Aniftos, R. (June 15, 2023). Tom Holland Admits He Has ‘No Rizz,’ Is ‘Happy & In Love’ With Zendaya.

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/tom-holland-zendaya-celebrity-crush-1235355687/ 

Berglund Prytz, Y. and M. Wynne (Feb. 18, 2023). The Oxford English Corpus – lexicography and beyond.

https://digital.humanities.ox.ac.uk/oxford-english-corpus-lexicography-and-beyond 

Buzzfeed 30-question Interview with Tom Holland (June 15, 2023). 

https://youtu.be/2oDXBHIoqas 

Staff - Oxford Word of the Year 2023.

https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2023/

Staff (Nov. 30, 2023). What does Oxford Word of the Year mean to us?

https://corp.oup.com/feature/what-does-oxford-word-of-the-year-mean-to-us/ 

Terminology - WOTTIES 2022 - Oxford English Dictionary "Goblin Mode"

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Remnants of pandemic lockdowns? Cynicism in a looming recession? The term goblin mode won the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Word of the Year (WOTY) 2022 contest. A contest breaking an almost 20-year tradition of  committee-selected WOTY, at the famous English dictionary that claims to be: The definitive record of the English language for more than 1000 years.

Goblin mode was competing for the Word of Year 2022 with Metaverse and the hashtag #IStandwith, when it won by a huge landslide. Indeed, Goblin mode won almost unanimously with 93% out of the more than 340,000 votes cast. Metaverse came in second with just 4% of the votes.

Defined as: “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”, the consensus makes one wonder. 

How representative was the sample of votes cast? Does the selection of goblin mode reflect post-pandemic experience, or is it the expression of unanimous liking for a term, that sweetly embraces going feral? The Guardian further describes Goblin Mode as: 

“embracing the comforts of depravity: spending the day in bed watching 90 Day Fiancé on mute while scrolling endlessly through social media, pouring the end of a bag of chips in your mouth; downing Eggo toaster oven waffles with hot sauce over the sink because you can’t be bothered to put them on a plate. Leaving the house in your pajamas and socks only to get a single Diet Coke from the bodega.”

Regardless of speculations on the reasons motivating voter preferences, Goblin mode will certainly go down in the OED history of WOTTIES, as the first people’s choice of the winner of ‘em all in 2022. 

References

Paul, K. (March 14, 2022). Slobbing out and giving up: why are so many people going ‘goblin mode’? The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/mar/14/slobbing-out-and-giving-up-why-are-so-many-people-going-goblin-mode

Oxford Word of the Year

https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/ 

 
Schuessler, J. (Dec. 4, 2022). The Word of the Year Goes Goblin Mode. NYTimes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/04/arts/goblin-mode-oxford-word.html

Terminology - WOTTIES 2022 - Permacrisis - Collins English Dictionary (1)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann 

The Collins English Dictionary has selected the neologism permacrisis, as the winning 2022 Word of the Year (WOTY). According to Collins, the term permacrisis, is defined as "an extended period of crisis and instability“, which sums up “just how truly awful 2022 has been for so many people.” A difficult year, not only in the United Kingdom specifically, where the third Prime Minister has just moved to Downing Street, but also in the world at large. 

Record high inflation, driving prices up, and overshadowing miraculous recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic; the horrific invasion of Ukraine, bringing famine in the Third World, and everyone else on the brink of nuclear warfare; climate crisis with once-in-a-century floods in parts of Australia, South East Asia and Venezuela.… that is permacrisis in 2022 —the opposite of stability and security. 

Below, the Collins animated Gif for permacrisis, showing some of the major 2022 disasters, cascading inexorably on a conveyor belt. As Shariatmadari stated on the Collins' Language Lover's Blog, the term permacrisis "perfectly embodies the dizzying sense of lurching from one unprecedented event to another, wondering what new horrors might be around the corner."

References

Collins Permacrisis gif file.
https://resources.collins.co.uk/Dictionary/WOTY22/22.10.21_6709%20HARP_PERMACRISIS_RF_V3.gif

Milman, O. et al. (Oct. 20, 2022). ‘Nature is striking back’: flooding around the world, from Australia to Venezuela. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/20/flooding-world-climate-crisis-australia-venezuela-nigeria

Shariatmadari, D. (Nov. 1, 2022). A year of permacrisis. Collins – Language Lovers Blog.

https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/a-year-of-permacrisis/

Suliman A. (Nov. 1, 2022). ‘Permacrisis’ is a dictionary’s word of the year in ‘truly awful’ 2022. The Washington Post. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/01/permacrisis-2022-word-year-collins-dictionary/

Terminology - WOTTIES 2021 - "vax" OED Word of the Year

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) selected the term "vax", short for vaccine, as the 2021 Word Of The Year (WOTY). The term vax not only increased frequency of usage by 72% compared to 2019, vaxxes no doubt saved humanity from extinction during the COVID 19 pandemic. Indeed, as of Nov. 1, 2021, according to the  WHO Dashboards, the SARS-COV2 pandemic killed almost 5 million people worldwide, including 750,000 in the US alone (NYTimes COVID 19 Maps).

With synonyms  jab, shot or Fauci-Ouchi, the term vax (noun and verb) inflects with a double “ x “ as in “ vaxxed” or “anti-vaxxer”. Neologisms associated with the term include such items as:

• vaxxie (n): selfie taken while getting a COVID -19 vaccination (Urban Dictionary).
• vaxinista (n): person who gets the vaccine, and flaunts it with high-end shopping, trips and parties (Urban Dictionary).
• vax(x)(i)cation (n): after getting vaccinated, vacation taken without wearing a mask in 2021 (Urban Dictionary). 
• vax-a-thon (n): administration of a record number of jabs at a dedicated event. 
• vaxxident (n) (unrelated to chewing-gum): post-vaccine automobile accident on roadways, caused by mini-strokes and blood clots in the brain (Urban Dictionary).

On the occasion of the OED WOTY 2021 announcement, Oxford Languages also released a Report into the language of vaccines. Oxford Languages claims that "no word better captures the atmosphere of the past year than vax."

 Long live the vax! 

References

BBC News (Nov. 1, 2021).  Vax declared Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year. 
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-59089596

COVID in the US: Latest Maps and Case counts. NYTimes.   https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

Oxford Languages – Word of the Year 2021: Vax.  https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2021/

Oxford Languages - A Report into the language of vaccines. https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2021/ (download link)

Petter, O. (Nov. 1, 2021). ‘Vax’ named Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/oxford-english-dictionary-word-vax-b1948929.html

Schuessier, J. (Nov. 1, 2021). Oxford’s 2021 Word of the Year Is a Shot in the Arm. NYTimes.    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/arts/vax-oxford-word-year.htm

Urban Dictionary  https://www.urbandictionary.com/

WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19)  Dashboards -  https://covid19.who.int/

Terminology - Cocoa or Cacao?

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Are you wondering what the differences might be between cacao, and cocoa?

According to the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), cocoa is "a variant or alteration of another lexical term". In this case, the etymon is cacao, a term borrowed from Spanish, which includes additional variants such as caccao, cacoa, cacao, cacaa, cacaw, cocao, and caco.

End of story, according to the definitive record of the English language. You might use both cacao and cocoa interchangeably, keeping your usage consistent if your writing is a bit formal.

However, the crowd begs to differ in regards the matter of "cacao vs. cocoa". Thus, the saga unfolds, and you might end up feeling variously: vindicated, baffled, indignant, amused, unsettled, a bit more confused, or plain frustrated.

Indeed, the matter of “cacao vs. cocoa” fetches 1,817,000 Google hits, of which the top-ranked tell a unified story of difference. In other words, If you are a raw foodist then the difference might actually appear quite significant. Or, at the very least, the difference may make gisted sense.  

Here are some of the crowd’s stories of the differences between the terms “cacao vs. cocao".

 “Raw cacao is made by cold-pressing un-roasted cacao beans. The process keeps the living enzymes in the cacao and removes the fat (cacao butter). Cocoa looks the same but it's not. Cocoa powder is raw cacao that's been roasted at high temperatures.” (Food Matters®)

“Some experts use “cacao” for the pods, beans and ground-up contents of the beans, reserving “cocoa” for the powder left after pressing the fat out of the ground beans.” (Healthline®)

"Despite coming from the same plant, cacao and cocoa have numerous differences. Cacao is a pure form of chocolate that comes very close to the raw and natural state in which it is harvested. […] Cocoa has been processed with high heat." (Nuts.com)

“Cacao and cocoa may sound similar, but both of them are unique when it comes to taste, nutrition, and cost. […] Cacao is the purest form of chocolate you can consume, which means it is raw and much less processed than cocoa powder or chocolate bars […] Cocoa is the term used to refer to the heated form of cacao that you probably grew up buying at the store in the form of powder […](Onegreenpalnet.com)

"Cocoa powder, commonly used in baking, is made by fermenting, drying, and roasting the cacao bean.   It's then pressed until all of the oils are separated out and the solids that remain are turned into a dry powder. […] Cacao powder is made in a very similar manner.[…]  However, when it's cacao powder being made, the beans are processed at very low temperatures. This is why cacao is often referred to as "raw," as the temperature used are so low it still be considered raw." (Spoon University)  

To complicate matters a bit more, at least for translation purposes. French uses the single term “cacao” with no variants in sight. The term “cacao” is used in reference to the tree (cacaotier), the pods roasted or not (fèves de cacao crues ou torréfiées), beverages (poudre de cacao pour chocolat chaud),  percentages in chocolate/candy bars (% de cacao) – It’s all –cacao-related or cacao-based.

The bottom line? The OED may prevent you from going crazy with possibilities. Alternatively, you might petition for revision, and/or conduct your own investigation. 

Incidentally, does the distinction “cacao vs.cocao” exist in the languages that you speak?

References
OED - cocoa
http://www.oed.com.proxy.library.nyu.edu/view/Entry/35518?redirectedFrom=cocoa#eid
OED - cacao
http://www.oed.com.proxy.library.nyu.edu/view/Entry/25797?redirectedFrom=cacao#eid
Raw Cocoa vs Cacao: What's the difference?
https://www.foodmatters.com/article/raw-cacao-vs-cocoa-whats-the-difference
Caco vs. Cocoa: What's the difference?
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cacao-vs-cocoa
Cacao vs Cocoa: What's the difference?
https://nuts.com/healthy-eating/cacao-vs-cocoa
Cacao vs Cocoa: What you need to know
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/cacao-vs-cocoa-what-you-need-to-know/
Cacao vs. Cocoa: What's the difference?
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/cacao-vs-cocoa

Terminology - OED WOTY!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Oxford English Dictionaries also select a WOTY (word of the year)!  And the votes are already tallied. The OED WOTY 2016 is… post-truth – a word which you might have recently seen flooding the media! In fact, according to OED researchers, usage of this word has  increased  approximately 2000% in 2015. 

Post-truth in 2016 has a quite different meaning from what one might expect. Post-truth selected as WOTY 2016 by the OED means “relating or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal beliefs”, in contrast to “post-truth meaning “after the truth.

Consider the following two examples:

(1)   'Pre-truth' far scarier than 'post-truth'. (Bangkok Post - Rithdee, 2016)

(2) "Of all the concerns facing a Madam President, governing in a post-truth environment may be the biggest challenge. Perhaps a third of American adults now believe a few Big Lies. And those Big Lies may be nearly impossible to dislodge, because in the course of this awful election, even fact-checking became suspect." (NYTimes – Egan, 2016)

The first example is the title of an article where pre-truth refers to a situation or state with no truth is sight, and post-truth refers to at least some involvement of truth, assuming a post-modern stance where there is not one truth, but many truths, and at least one truth has prevailed. The prefix post means "after". In the second example, the author is referring to governing in an environment where facts and truth no longer take precedence. The prefix post means "belonging to a time in which the specified concept has become unimportant or irrelevant".   

So indeed, post-truth in 2016 is actually the antonym of post-truth as in post-war ! In a post-truth 2016 US environment, for example: 

 “More than 70 percent of Trump’s statements have been rated false, mostly false or pants-on-fire lies by PolitiFact — nearly three times the falsity score of Hillary Clinton. And yet, Trump is considered more honest and trustworthy in some polls.” [NYTimes – Egan, 2016). 

So, post-truth is dangerous, isn’t it? And, of course, both Google and Facebook are blamed for spreading “fake news", in turn prompting their action against fake news sites. (WSJ - James Taranto - Interview; WSJ - Nicas & Seetharaman, 2016)

However, the OED’s choice of post-truth as WOTY 2016 was not without serious competition.  Competition for the OED WOTY 2016 title included such terms as brexiteer, Alt-right, Latinx and adulting, among others.

Brexiteer is used in reference to “anti-European Union advocates”. Alt-right (short for Alternative Right) refers to an ultra-conservative group in the United States with "far right ideologies who reject mainstream conservatism in the United States" (Wikipedia). Adulting, like parenting, refers to behaving as a responsible adult. And Latinx arises as a gender-neutral term for a person of Latin origin, instead of the terms Latina or Latino. 

Cheers for catching post-truth in 2016! It was spotted as Truth Lite in 2004 (Keyes, 2004)... but that was way before it really spiked! 👠

References

Egan, T. (Nov. 4, 2016) Post-truth Presidency - NYTimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/opinion/campaign-stops/the-post-truth-presidency.html?_r=0

Holmes, R. (Nov. 16, 2016) Oxford Dictionaries names 'post-truth' word of the year

https://www.yahoo.com/news/post-truth-oxford-dictionaries-word-100129132.html

Keyes, R. (2004) The post-truth era: Dishonesty and deception in contemporary life. NY, NY: St. Martins Press. 

Nicas, J. and D. Seetharaman (Nov. 15, 2016) Google and Facebook take aim at fake news sites, Wall Street Journal

http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-pulled-into-debate-over-fake-news-on-the-web-1479159867  

NPR (National Public Radio) Staff – What you need to know about the Alt-Right movement (Aug, 26, 2016) 

http://www.npr.org/2016/08/26/491452721/the-history-of-the-alt-right 

Oxford English Dictionaries - Word of the Year

https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/press/news/2016/11/17/WOTY-16 

Politifact

http://www.politifact.com/  
Rithdee, K. (Nov. 19, 2016) Pre-truth far scarier than post-truth. Bangkok Post
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1139021/pre-truth-far-scarier-than-post-truth 

Sharockman , A. (Aug 16, 2016) The post-truth election? Comparing 2016 to past elections on the Truth-O-Meter, Politifact

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/aug/16/post-truth-election-comparing-2016-past-elections-/

WSJ - Wall Street Journal  (Nov. 22, 2016)  Fake news and fake scandals - James Taranto Interview

http://www.wsj.com/video/opinion-journal-fake-news-and-fake-scandals/6B188926-5B5C-434F-BAD1-652ED804F862.html 

Wikipedia – Alt-right

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt-right

Free access to the OED for the NYU community

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann   If you are registered at NYU, take advantage of this gift from the NYU libraries: free access to the Oxford English Dictionary. Once your ties are severed from your alma mater, access will cost you $295/year, or $29.50/month.   For access: Login to Bobcat> Databases A-Z> Scroll to the below listed entry for the OED, and click on the blue hyperlinked text: Oxford EnglishDictionary (OED) The Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution ofthe English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide tothe meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, bothpresent and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotationsfrom a wide range of international English language sources, from classicliterature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books. Enter your term in the search field at the top of the OED Splash page: Happy browsing and searching! This is a fabulous and immense resource, made searchable courtesy of the www and information technology! :-)