Terminology - ADS WOTTIES - And the 2017 winners are...

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The ADS voted Fake News as the 2017 WOTY. The term was voted with a double meaning -- not only as the “disinformation or falsehoods presented as real news”, but also as “actual news claimed to be untrue”, for example, arising in POTUS tweets.

As a reminder, the acronym WOTY is an abbreviation for Word Of the Year. WOTTIES is an acronym for the plural of WOTY, which rhymes with POTTIES. As for the acronym, POTUS (President of the United States), this is an abbreviation carved at the end of the Obama administration, together with FLOTUS (First Lady of the United States). Both acronyms rhyme with " Poets", without the diphthong. 

The ADS selected the following WOTTIES, in the other WOTY categories.The full results of the vote are itemized in the hyperlinked ADS press-release. 

  

Political Word of the Year

•  take a knee: Kneel in protest, especially during a time when others are standing. (181 votes) 

Digital Word of the Year

•  shitpost: Posting of worthless or irrelevant online content intended to derail a conversation or to provoke others. (78 votes)

Slang Word of the Year

• wypipo: Humorous phonetic spelling of “white people” used to flag white privilege, cluelessness, or absurdity. (168 votes)

Most Useful 

• die by suicide: A variant of “to commit suicide” that does not suggest a criminal act. (108 votes) 

Most Likely to Succeed

•  fake news: 1. Disinformation or falsehoods presented as real news. 2. actual news that is claimed to be untrue. (226 votes) 

Most Creative

•  broflake: Man or boy who lacks resilience or coping skills in the face of disagreements or setbacks. (100 votes) 

Euphemism of the Year

•  alternative facts: Contrary information that matches one’s preferred narrative or interpretation of events. (181 votes)

WTF Word of the Year

• covfefe: A (probably) mistyped word of unknown meaning used in a Donald Trump tweet. (113 votes)

Hashtag of the Year

•  #MeToo: Indication by women that they have experienced sexual harassment or assault. (231 votes) 

Emoji of the Year

woman with head scarf or hijab. (96 votes)

Now, remember to tune-in for the 2018 WOTTIES! 

References

ADS – Press release – Word of the year is fake news as voted by the ADS 

https://www.americandialect.org/wp-content/uploads/2017-Word-of-the-Year-PRESS-RELEASE.pdf
ADS - Fake News is 2017 ADS Word of the Year
https://www.americandialect.org/fake-news-is-2017-american-dialect-society-word-of-the-year