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/