Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Each year, since 1990, members of the distinguished, 133-year old, American Dialect Society (ADS), vote for the Words of the Year (WOTTIES) in several categories, plus for one Word of the Year (WOTY), winner of them all. The vote occurs during the Annual Meeting of the ADS, held online for the second year, on January 6th and 7th, in 2022.
Below, the list the Words of the Year, in the 2021 categories, and the WOTY winner of them all. The 2021 WOTY categories included: most likely to succeed, most useful, political word of the year, digital word of the year, pandemic-related word of the year, financial/economic words of the year, informal word of the year, most creative word of the year, and euphemism of the year.
The Word of the Year 2021
insurrection: violent attempt to take control of a government, applied to the Capitol attack of Jan. 6, 2021.
Most likely to succeed Word of the Year 2021
antiwork: position supporting the refusal to work, pushing back against labor exploitation.
Most useful Word of the Year 2021
hard pants: pants that lack an elastic waistband or stretchy fabric, unlike the “soft pants” favored by those working from home during the pandemic.
Political Word of the Year 2021
insurrection: violent attempt to take control of a government, applied to the Capitol attack of Jan. 6, 2021.
Digital Word of the Year 2021
#FreeBritney: hashtag for those supporting the release of Britney Spears from the conservatorship set up by her father 13 years ago.
Pandemic-related Word of the Year 2021
boosted: having received a booster shot, as for Covid-19 (also boostered/boosterized).
Financial/economic Word of the Year 2021
supply chain: interconnected global system of supplying goods and services to consumers, put in jeopardy by the pandemic.
Informal Word of the Year 2021
yassify: to apply image filters to a person’s photo to transform it into a cartoonishly beautiful image; more generally, to make beautiful or glamorous.
Most creative word of the year 2021
Fauci ouchie: rhyming phrase for a Covid-19 vaccine, in honor of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Chief Adviser to the President on matters of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Euphemism of the year 2021
unalive: term used as a substitute for “suicide” or “kill” to avoid social media filters.
Jan 6th 2021 - Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.
American Dialect Society
Word of the Year – American Dialect Society.
https://www.americandialect.org/2021-word-of-the-year-is-insurrection
Word of the Year – American Dialect Society - Press Release.
https://www.americandialect.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-Word-of-the-Year-PRESS-RELEASE.pdf
https://www.americandialect.org/2021-word-of-the-year-is-insurrection
Word of the Year – American Dialect Society - Press Release.
https://www.americandialect.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-Word-of-the-Year-PRESS-RELEASE.pdf
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