Word Of The Year – A History

 

The Oxford Dictionary published their “Word Of The Year” 2016, and it is post-truth. If you want to find out why this word made the cut, check out their article.

 

Now that we know the “Word of 2016”, however, lets have a look at the whole tradition of “Word of the Year”. We will answer some questions you may have about it and provide you with the answers. Furthermore, we have looked a bit at the history of this sometimes infamous award and broke it down into easy to digest bits for you. And, of course, you will find a list of all “Words of the Year” from the first accolade til today.

 

The Word Of The Year

 

What Is “Word Of The Year”?

“Word of the Year” is a symbolic award given by several institutions (like the Oxford Dictionary) to words that had a special  impact in the year they were chosen. Taken into account are not only single words but also expressions that were of some importance in the public sphere throughout the year in question.

 

When Did It Start?

In Germany, the tradition of crowning a “Wort des Jahres” started back in 1971. The first one determined for the English language, chosen by the American Dialect Society, was in 1990.

 

Who Announces The Word Of The Year?

For the English language, the aforementioned America’s Dialect Society officially announces the “Word of the Year” after the calendar year ended. However, several dictionaries also started publishing their very own “Word of the Year”. Such as:

• Oxford English Dictionary started in 2004
• Merriam-Webster Dictionary started in 2003
• Macquarie Dictionary started in 2006

 

Different from the dictionaries listed above, the official “Word of the Year” of the American Dialect Society is chosen via voting among several renowned and independent linguists.

 

What Are The Different Categories?

In addition to the overall “Word of the Year”, the American Dialect Society also selects words for this award in different categories. These categories vary throughout the years. Some of them include, most…

• useful
• creative
• unnecessary
• notable hashtag

… and more.

 

List Of All Words Of The Year For The English Language

Here are all words that have been given this award by the four sources mentioned above. Please note that the choice for 2016 by the American Dialect Society hasn’t been made yet.

Year	American Dialect Society	Merriam-Webster Dictionary	Oxford English Dictionary UK vs. US	Macquarie Dictionary committee vs. people’s choice
2016	tba	surreal	post-truth	tba
2015	Singluar they	-ism	?	captain’s call
2014	#blacklivesmatter	culture	vape	mansplain vs. shareplate
2013	because (as in because awesome, because reasons)	science	selfie	infovorce vs. onsie
2012	hashtag	socialism, capitalism	omnishambles vs to GIF	phantom vibration syndrom vs. First World Problem
2011	occupy	pragmatic	squeezed middle	burqini vs. fracking
2010	app	austerity	big society vs. refudiate	googleganger vs. shockumentary
2009	tweet	admonish	simples vs. unfriend	shovel-ready vs. tweet
2008	bailout	bailout	credit crunch vs. hypermiling	toxic debt vs. flashpacker
2007	subprime	w00t	carbon footprint vs. locavore	pod slurping vs. password fatigue
2006	plutoed	thruthiness	bovvered vs. carbon-neutral	muffin top
2005	truthiness	integrity	sudoku vs. podcast
2004	red	state, blue state, purple state	blog	chav
2003	metrosexual	democracy
2002	weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
2001	9-11
2000	chad
1999	Y2K
1998	e- (as in e-mail, e-commerce)
1997	millennium bug
1996	mom
1995	web, to newt
1994	cyber, morph
1993	information superhighway
1992	Not!
1991	mother of all
1990	bushlips