'Climate strike' becomes official word of 2019 in Collins Dictionary

The Collin's dictionary by Harper Collins publication based in Glasgow, Scotland has crowned 'climate strike' as a word of the year 2019. The phrase celebrates Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg's climate protest whose #FridaysForFuture movement that has attracted thousands of school children around the world to go on strike protesting the lack of action to combat climate change. In November 2015, the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris registered the phrase for the very first time. Yet it reached popularity only after Thunberg's initiatives.

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Politics effect on the English language

The politically charged atmosphere was clearly driving our language noted Helen Newstead, the language content consultant at Collins. Newstead added that in 2018 Collins chose the word "single-use" as its word of the year following the huge uproar against single-use plastic across the world. This year, "climate strike" too has been appearing every now and then leading to a mass rebellion all over the world. It is this back to back usage that has made these phrases the words of the years.

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Other mentions in Collins

Apart from announcing the phrase of the year, Collins also pointed to a range of keywords that have emerged this year which the language trends across the year. Words like “bopo”, short for body positivity, and “non-binary” in reference to people who choose not to identify as male or female and prefer “they” pronouns as opposed to “he” or “she” were specially mentioned by the dictionary. It was Singer Sam Smith who said they identify as non-binary, following a host of other celebrities including actor and activist Rose McGowan and Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness that made the term popular. Other words: “influencer” and “cancelled”, which refers to the act of boycotting someone on social media following something controversial they said or did were also amongst Collins's significant mentions. 

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Brexicon: Words related to Brexit

Likewise, Collins has revealed a “Brexicon” list of terms relating specifically to Brexit. The words include "Project Fear" and "milkshake". Milkshake is defined by the dictionary as “to throw a milkshake or similar drink over a public figure in order to humiliate him or her”. Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson, when faced this form of humiliation, the word was added. 

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