What a year 2022 has been! For many, it has been a truly awful one as they had to live through upheaval caused by the pandemic, severe weather, the war in Ukraine, political instability, the energy squeeze and the cost-of-living crisis. Lexicographers have been busy updating their dictionaries with new words, changing meanings and resurrecting forgotten terms.

The best-of-breed dictionary is arguably the Oxford Dictionary. Many treasure the hardbound copies, even if they may be soiled with constant use. Many others prefer to consult online dictionaries, which is admittedly more convenient.

The Oxford Dictionary has revealed its word of the year – ‘globin-mode’. The term is defined as “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”. This year’s term was chosen by public vote from among three finalists, which included ‘metaverse’ and ‘IStandWith’, the latter being a reference to en-masse social media reactions to what is deemed an injustice.

It will be wrong to assume that a word makes it to a dictionary because lexicographers so decide. It works the other way around. Those who update dictionaries add words on the criterion that real people use a real word in the real world. Languages evolve daily, and in our complicated world, people are constantly coining an assortment of new words and new ways to use existing words for various aspects of everyday life.

Dictionary.com has added seve­ral words and phrases that have been more widely used in 2022. One such phrase is the verb ‘to lie flat’. It means “to reject overwork and withdraw voluntarily from relentless competition and pressure to achieve”.

One of the uglier new words or abbreviations identified by Dictionary.com is OOO – ‘out of office’. It is used to notify colleagues or clients when an employee is on vacation, out sick or away from the office for another reason and cannot be reached. I can understand the frustration of someone who expects to be served by an employee who is OOO and has not delegated his customer support service duties to another employee.

Gaslighting has become the favoured word for the perception of deception

The increasing obsession with social media communication has given rise to new ways of manipulating public opinion. ‘Review bomb’ is a noun that describes “the manipulation of an online rating system with a semi-organised campaign of unfavourable user reviews, often as a general statement of disapproval for a creator, a publisher, or other business rather than a genuine opinion about a specific product or experience”.

Merriam-Webster, another authoritative online dictionary, chose ‘gaslighting’ as its word of the year, beating other popular terms like ‘omicron’ and ‘queen consort’. Gaslighting is, of course, not a new word. However, its meaning has evolved since it was first used in a 1938 play. One definition of gaslighting is “the manipulation of a person usually over an extended time that causes the victim in question the validity of their own thoughts, perception or reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem”.

Merriam-Webster lexicographers argue that they have chosen gaslighting as Word of the Year because “in recent years, with the vast increase in channels and technologies used to mislead people, gaslighting has become the favoured word for the perception of deception”.

It is interesting how over time, the English language has coined new words to say ‘lie’ from neutral terms like ‘falsehoods’ and ‘untruth’ to the more blunt ‘deceitfulness’.

Collins Dictionary is another respected reference for English language lovers, as it has a database of 18 billion words and uses a range of media sources. This dictionary’s reviewers have identified ‘permacrisis’ as their Word of the Year 2022 – “an extended period of instability and insecurity”. Undoubtedly, language mirrors what is happening in society and the broader world, and 2022 has thrown challenge after challenge.

Dictionary.com has identified other neologisms that reflect how society is changing. Some are amusing, while others are less so. ‘Pawternity leave’ is a noun that describes “a brief leave of absence for employees who are adding a new pet to their household, caring for a pet when it is sick or injured, or mourning the death of a pet”. I wonder whether wildlife lovers will qualify for pawternity leave when they experience the death of birds caused by hunters.

We are lucky to have two official languages to serve us in communication. The evolution of the Maltese and English languages used locally is fascinating as it often reflects how our society is changing.

 

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