Was 2022 defined by conflict, power cuts … or a viral word game? That’s what language experts around the world have been trying to decide as they nominate their words of the year.
Meaning: “A point scored in baseball when you hit the ball, usually out of the playing field, and are able to run around all the bases at one time to the starting base.”
Nominated by: The Cambridge Dictionary
Why: A homer is both the sound of success in baseball and thousands of angry Wordle fans throwing their phone at the wall. The Cambridge Dictionary chose the word after they saw a huge spike in search traffic outside North America from players of the viral game wondering what it meant
Meaning: War. The Japanese character is pronounced differently – as “sen” or “ikusa” – depending on the word and context in which it is used
Nominated by: Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, public poll
Why? One of the biggest news events this year was the conflict in Ukraine, but the choice also reflects tensions with North Korea as well as sporting competitions like the World Cup and Winter Olympics
Meaning: War (Russia)
Nominated by: An independent panel, headed by a Russian professor based in the US
Why? The panel’s choice has special significance as the Russian government still does not call its war a war, calling it instead a “special military operation”
Meaning: When demand for electricity exceeds supply, an operator implements load shedding. A power cut, in other words
Nominated by: The Pan South African Language Board
Why: South Africa’s choice reflects a year which saw its biggest ever power crisis. Rolling blackouts were common, as the country’s ageing power network and mainly coal-fuelled power stations struggled to keep up with demand
Meaning: Shrinkflation, when items get smaller even as price stays the same
Nominated by: The Norwegian Language Council
Why? Inflation has stretched consumers around the world, with high energy and food prices. Shrinkflation is one way retailers have responded
Meaning: The act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for a personal advantage. Its origins come from a 30s play where a man tries to trick his wife into believing she is insane
Nominated by: Merriam-Webster
Why? The US dictionary maker says gaslighting is a “word for our time”, pointing to how the decades-old term sits with more modern forms of deception, such as fake news or deepfakery
Meaning: A turning point in history. It can be translated several ways, but roughly means the end of an era and the beginning of a new one
Nominated by: The Society for the German Language
Why? Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz used the term following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the aftermath, Germany transformed its defence, energy and economic policies
Meaning: “An adult female person”
Nominated by: Dictionary.com
Why: The term is a flashpoint in the polarised debate over gender and identity. Dictionary.com saw a spike in traffic when Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was asked for a definition during her confirmation for the US Supreme Court. It was, the site says, “a rare case of not just a word in the spotlight, but a definition”
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