Oxford English Dictionary unable to pick 'word of the year': 'BLM, Coronavirus, Bushfire?'
The Oxford English Dictionary, every year, chooses a 'word of the year', based on the frequency of the usage of the word.
The Oxford English Dictionary, every year, chooses a 'word of the year', based on the frequency of the usage of the word. However, this year, for the first time ever, experts have failed to choose a single word. This is due to the excessive words used and searched. “The English language, like all of us, has had to adapt rapidly and repeatedly this year”, wrote Oxford Dictionary on its official website.
Oxford word of the year 2020
The most used words this year include "Bushfire" in January, "acquittal" in February, "Black Lives Matter", "BIPOC", "Mail-in", "Belarusian" and "superspreader". The reports said, “Though what was genuinely unprecedented this year was the hyper-speed at which the English-speaking world amassed a new collective vocabulary relating to the coronavirus, and how quickly it became, in many instances, a core part of the language”. The report has been titled as 'Words of an Unprecedented Year' as it said that the number of adjectives used this year showed a massive spike.
In the year 2019, 'climate emergency' was termed as the word of the year. It was defined as “a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it”. According to the reported data of the dictionary, the usage of the word soared 10,796 per cent. The term is the most common compound involving “emergency”, reportedly occurring three times as often as the next most-common, “health-emergency”.
This year, “Lockdown” has been named Word Of The Year 2020 by Collins Dictionary following a dramatic surge in the usage of the word over the past one year. Publishers Harper Collins, awarded the honour to the word on November 10 asserting that the word has now become synonymous with populations across the world struggling to tackle the coronavirus. In a blog post, they mentioned that what was originally a piece of prison vocabulary, has now turned into a unifying experience.
Read: 'Chuddies' Is The Latest Indian Word In The Oxford English Dictionary, All Thanks To Sanjeev Bhaskar
Published By : Akanksha Arora
Published On: 24 November 2020 at 18:56 IST