Oxford dictionary announces their "word of the year" about this time every year. Last year's word of the year was "climate emergency" and for 2018 it was "toxic". For 2020 they picked dozens of words, calling this an “unprecedented year.”
Terms relating to the pandemic dominate their list including "coronavirus," "lockdown," "social distancing," "reopening," and "super-spreader." Also making the list – "bushfire," "impeachment," "acquittal," "Black Lives Matter," "mail-in," "cancel culture," and "net zero."
What’s interesting is the way they shifted over the course of the year:
- “bushfire” and “impeachment” were big in January,
- “acquittal” came in February, before landing on “coronavirus” in March.
- “COVID-19,” “lockdown,” “social distancing” and “reopening” soon followed.
- Terms like BLM, Juneteeth and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and other People Of Color) spiked in usage in June and July.
- “Zoombombing” (defined as “the practice of infiltrating video conference calls on the Zoom application, and posting violent, pornographic, or offensive content”) and “Blursday” (“a day of the week that is indistinguishable from any other”) have also been all the rage this year.
Here's the entire report.