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Appendix:American Dialect Society words of the year

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The following are recognized words from the American Dialect Society word of the year.

List

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Year Word of the Year Notes
1990 bushlips (similar to "bullshit" – stemming from President George H. W. Bush's 1988 "Read my lips: no new taxes" broken promise)
1991 mother of all – (as in Saddam Hussein's foretold "Mother of all battles")
1992 Not! (meaning "just kidding")
1993 information superhighway
1994 cyber, morph (“to change form”)
1995 World Wide Web, newt (to act aggressively as a newcomer).[1][2]
1996 mom (as in "soccer mom").[3][4]
1997 millennium bug [5][6]
1998 e- (as in "e-mail").[7][8]
1999 Y2K (Word of the Decade (1990–1999): web; Word of the Century (1900–1999): jazz; Word of the Millennium (1000–1999): she)[9][10]
2000 chad (from the 2000 Presidential Election controversy in Florida).[11][12]
2001 9-11, 9/11 or September 11 [13][14]
2002 weapons of mass destruction (WMD) [15][16]
2003 metrosexual [17][18]
2004 red states, blue states, purple states (from the 2004 presidential election).[19][20]
2005 truthiness popularized on The Colbert Report.[21][22]
2006 plutoed, pluto (demoted or devalued, as happened to the former planet Pluto).[23][24]
2007 subprime (an adjective used to describe a risky or less than ideal loan, mortgage, or investment).[25][26]
2008 bailout (a rescue by government of a failing corporation) [27]
2009 tweet (noun) (a short message sent via the Twitter service. Word of the Decade (2000–2009): google)[28]
2010 app [29]
2011 occupy (in reference to the Occupy movement)[30]
2012 #hashtag [31]
2013 because (preposition) [32]
2014 #blacklivesmatter [33]
2015 singular they [34]
2016 dumpster fire (🗑️🔥) (a chaotic situation, 2016 presidential election)[35]
2017 fake news [36]
2018 tender-age shelter/camp/facility (for children of asylum seekers at the U.S./Mexico border)[37]
2019 (my) pronouns (as in “pronouns: she/her”. Word of the Decade (2010–2019): singular they)[38]
2020 Covid [39]
2021 insurrection (in reference to the January 6 United States Capitol attack)[40]
2022 -ussy (as in bussy)[41]
2023 enshittification [42]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ritter, Jim (1995 December 31) “1995's Word Of the Year: Either `Web' – Or `Newt'”, in Chicago Sun-Times‎[1], retrieved February 21, 2008
  2. ^ “1995 Words of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[2], American Dialect Society, 1996 January 13, retrieved February 21, 2008
  3. ^ Associated Press (1997 January 5) “Linguists pick 'soccer mom' as 1996's word”, in The Philadelphia Inquirer‎[3], retrieved February 21, 2008
  4. ^ “1996 Words of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[4], American Dialect Society, 1997 January 13, retrieved February 21, 2008
  5. ^ Smith, Sheron (1998 January 10) “Word! 'Millennium Bug' is picked as top phrase of 1997”, in The Macon Telegraph‎[5], retrieved February 21, 2008
  6. ^ “1997 Words of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[6], American Dialect Society, 1998 January 13, retrieved February 21, 2008
  7. ^ Gallentine, Shana (1999 January 21) “1998: Our society defined in just a few short words”, in The Red and Black‎[7], retrieved February 21, 2008
  8. ^ “1998 Words of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[8], American Dialect Society, 1999 January 13, retrieved February 21, 2008
  9. ^ Freeman, Jan (2000 June 18) “Steal this coinage”, in The Boston Globe‎[9], retrieved February 21, 2008
  10. ^ “1999 Words of the Year, Word of the 1990s, Word of the 20th Century, Word of the Millennium”, in Americandialect.org‎[10], American Dialect Society, 2000 January 13, retrieved February 21, 2008
  11. ^ Kershner, Vlae (2002 December 11) “Help us choose the 'Word of the Year'”, in San Francisco Chronicle‎[11], retrieved February 19, 2008
  12. ^ “2000 Words of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[12], American Dialect Society, 2001 January 13, retrieved February 19, 2008
  13. ^ Scott, Janny (2002 February 24) “A nation challenged: Language; Words of 9/11 Go From Coffee Shops To the Dictionaries”, in The New York Times‎[13], retrieved February 19, 2008
  14. ^ “2001 Words of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[14], American Dialect Society, 2002 January 13, retrieved February 19, 2008
  15. ^ “'W.M.D.' voted word of year”, in USA Today‎[15], 2003 January 6, retrieved February 19, 2008
  16. ^ “2002 Words of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[16], American Dialect Society, 2003 January 13, retrieved February 19, 2008
  17. ^ Newman, Andrew Adam (2005 October 10) “In Time of Studied Ambiguity, a Label for the Manly Man”, in The New York Times‎[17], retrieved February 19, 2008
  18. ^ “2003 Words of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[18], American dialect Society, 2004 January 13, retrieved February 19, 2008
  19. ^ Associated Press (2005 January 10) “Linguists' phrase of the year: 'Red state, blue state, purple state'”, in The Seattle Times‎[19], retrieved February 19, 2008
  20. ^ “2004 Word of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[20], American Dialect Society, 2005 January 7, retrieved February 19, 2008
  21. ^ Nash, Margo (2006 April 9) “Jersey Footlights”, in The New York Times‎[21], retrieved February 19, 2008
  22. ^ “Truthiness Voted 2005 Word of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[22], American Dialect Society, 2006 January 6, retrieved February 8, 2008
  23. ^ Newman, Andrew Adam (2007 December 10) “How Dictionaries Define Publicity: the Word of the Year”, in The New York Times‎[23], retrieved February 19, 2008
  24. ^ “'Plutoed' Voted 2006 Word of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[24], American Dialect Society, 2007 January 5, retrieved February 19, 2008
  25. ^ ““Subprime” voted 2007 word of the year”, in Americandialect.org‎[25], American Dialect Society, 2008 January 4, retrieved February 19, 2008
  26. ^ Mullen, Jim (2008 January 23) “LOL – Subprime is delighted to be word of the year”, in Chicago Sun-Times‎[26], retrieved February 19, 2008
  27. ^ “'Bailout' voted Word of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[27], American Dialect Society, 2009
  28. ^ Barrett, Grant (2009 January 8) ““Tweet” 2009 Word of the Year, “Google” Word of the Decade”, in Americandialect.org‎[28], retrieved January 9, 2010
  29. ^ ““App” voted 2010 word of the year by the American Dialect Society”, in Americandialect.org‎[29], American Dialect Society, 2011
  30. ^ ““Occupy” 2011 Word of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[30], American Dialect Society, 2012
  31. ^ ““Hashtag” 2012 Word of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[31], American Dialect Society, 2012
  32. ^ ““Because” 2013 Word of the Year”, in Americandialect.org‎[32], American Dialect Society, 2013
  33. ^ “2014 Word of the Year is #blacklivesmatter”, in Americandialect.org‎[33], American Dialect Society, 2014
  34. ^ “2015 Word of the Year is singular “they””, in Americandialect.org‎[34], American Dialect Society, 2016 January 8
  35. ^ ““Dumpster fire” is 2016 American Dialect Society word of the year”, in Americandialect.org‎[35], American Dialect Society, 2017 January 6
  36. ^ ““Fake news” is 2017 American Dialect Society word of the year”, in Americandialect.org‎[36], American Dialect Society, 2018 January 5
  37. ^ ““Tender-age shelter” is 2018 American Dialect Society word of the year”, in Americandialect.org‎[37], American Dialect Society, 2019 January 4
  38. ^ “2019 Word of the Year is “(My) Pronouns,” Word of the Decade is Singular “They””, in Americandialect.org‎[38], American Dialect Society, 2020 January 3
  39. ^ “2020 Word of the Year is “Covid””, in Americandialect.org‎[39], American Dialect Society, 2020 December 17
  40. ^ “2021 Word of the Year is “Insurrection””, in Americandialect.org‎[40], American Dialect Society, 2022 January 7
  41. ^ “2022 Word of the Year is “-ussy””, in Americandialect.org‎[41], American Dialect Society, 2023 January 6
  42. ^ “2023 Word of the Year Is “Enshittification””, in Americandialect.org‎[42], American Dialect Society, 2024 January 5

Further reading

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  • Lerer, Seth (2007) Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language, New York, New York: Columbia University Press, page 195
  • Mencken, H.L. (2006) The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States, Alfred A. Knopf
  • Metcalf, Allan A. (2002) Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success, Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, page 188
  • Wolfram, Walt with Natalie Schilling-Estes (2006) American English: Dialects and Variation, Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, page 24
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