Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
The ADS (American Dialect Society) votes for WOTTIES (Words of the Year) in several additional categories, including hashtags and emoji!
The line-up for 2016 looked like this:
· Political word of the year
Post-truth referring to a time where beliefs and opinions count more than facts, competing for example, against Pantsuit Nation referring to a Facebook group of Hillary Clinton supporters.
· Digital word of the year
@ meaning “reply” on Twitter, as in “atting”, “@ing”, “@replying” or “@username”.
· Slang word of the year
woke as in “being woke”, meaning socially aware or enlightened
· Most useful / Most likely to succeed word of the year
gaslight (verb) meaning to psychologically manipulate a victim into thinking they are insane. (Origin in a 1938 play by Britsh playwright Patrick Hamilton titled Gas Light, and a 1944 big screen adaptation titled Gaslight).
· Most creative word of the year
laissez-fairydust meaning magical effects of laissez-faire economics.
· Euphemism of the year
locker-room banter referring to lewd and vulgar talk euphemizing discourse on harassment of, and aggression towards, women.
· Hashtag of the Year
#NoDAPL: protest against construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline within the context of a conflict involving the preservation of sacred Native American Sioux land.
(fire) - meaning exciting or superlative.
-----
References
ADS (American Dialect Society)
Press release - American dialect Society: words of the Year
Wikipedia : Gas Light (1938)
Wikipedia : Gaslight (1944 film)
No comments:
Post a Comment