Word Of The Year
A screenshot of the announcement of Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year 2019 on its website. The word 'they' was named as the Word of the Year based on 313% increase in look-ups on its website. (Photo: screenshot/ merriam-webster.com)
Morung Express News
The language mavens at Merriam-Webster have declared the personal pronoun, ‘they’ their word of the year on December 10.
It was based on 313 percent increase in look-ups on the company's search site, Merriam-Webster.com, this year when compared with 2018, AP reported.
“I have to say it's surprising to me,” said Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and Merriam-Webster's editor at large, was quoted as saying, ahead of the Tuesday's announcement. “It's a word we all know and love. So many people were talking about this word.”
Sokolowski and his team monitor spikes in searches and “they” got an early start last January with the rise of model Oslo Grace on top fashion runways.
The Northern Californian identifies as transgender nonbinary, walking in both men's and women's shows around the world, the report said.
Another look-up spike occurred in April, when U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, got emotional while talking of her gender-nonconforming child during a House committee hearing as she advocated for LGBTQ rights legislation, the report said.
Merriam-Webster recently added a new definition to its online dictionary to reflect use of “they” as relating to a person whose gender identity is nonbinary. In October, the American Psychological Association endorsed “they” as a singular third-person pronoun in its latest style guide for scholarly writing.
The American Dialect Society, which is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, named “they” its word of the year for 2015, in recognition of its emergence among people who reject “he” and “she, ” it added.
Definition of ‘they’
1) those ones : those people, animals, or things
2) used to refer to people in a general way or to a group of people who are not specified
3)
a) used with a singular indefinite pronoun antecedent
b) used with a singular antecedent to refer to an unknown or
unspecified person
c) used to refer to a single person whose gender is intention ally not revealed
d) used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary ( not restricted to two things or parts)
Merriam-Webster’s runners-up in 2019 – Top 10
1. Quid pro quo (noun): as “something given or received for something else,” and "a deal arranging a quid pro quo.” The literal translation from New Latin is “something for something.
2. Impeach (verb): - to charge with a crime or misdemeanour, specifically to charge (a public official) before a competent tribunal with misconduct in office
- to cast doubt on especially to challenge the credibility or validity of
3. crawdad (noun): - is used mostly west of the Appalachians to refer to the aquatic animal that looks like a small lobster and lives in rivers and streams
4. Egregious (adjective): – Conspicuous, especially : conspicuously bad (flagrant)
5. clemency noun: - disposition to be merciful and especially to moderate the severity of punishment due
- an act or instance of leniency
- pleasant mildness of weather
6. The: – (definite article)
7. Snitty (adjective): - disagreeably ill-tempered
8. Tergiversation (noun): - evasion of straightforward action or clear-cut statement : EQUIVOCATION
- desertion of a cause, position, party, or faith
9. Camp (Noun): –a group of tents, cabins, or huts fishing camps along the river
- a preseason training session for athletes
- an ideological position
- Something so outrageously artificial, affected, inappropriate, or out-of-date as to be considered amusing
-a style or mode of personal or creative expression that is absurdly exaggerated and often fuses elements of high and popular culture
-exaggerated effeminate mannerisms (as of speech or gesture)
10. Exculpate (verb): -to clear from alleged fault or guilt.
(With inputs from AP and merriam-webster.com)
