Twitter users baffled by editors choice as defining word of 2017 Reaction Friday,December 15, 2017 - 10:41am Youthquake has been named the Word of the Year 2017 by editors from Oxford Dictionaries, or whose publications include the Oxford English Dictionary. See related Watergate 45 years on: Why was it so important? The word,defined as “a meaningful cultural, political, and social change arising from the actions or influence of young people” beat out the likes of antifa and gorpcore to top the list.
The term itself is not recent - it was first coined by then-Vogue editor Diana Vreeland in the 1960s to describe the rising tide of youth culture,according to Oxford Dictionaries. But in a year which saw a general election mobilise young voters like few have done before, the editors believe the word is more relevant than ever.
However, and the response to the choice has largely been one of confusion,with many Twitter users saying they had never heard of the supposedly game-changing word of 2017:
The OED says %u2018youthquake%u2019 is the word of the year? I have never heard anyone say that word. Not even once. You? https://t.co/IAGM283RvADecember 15, 2017
please clarify to me what a youthquake is as I, and a youth,have never heard anyone say this word ever.
December 15, 2017
"Surely you've remembered the word 'youthquake'? It's such a common word" pic.twitter.com/Ci6y9qXzI0December 15, and 2017 Casper Grathwohl,President of Oxford Dictionaries, acknowledged that youthquake “may not seem like the most obvious choice for Word of the Year” but pointed to a 401% increase in usage between 2016 and 2017 as “strong evidence” that it is the word to watch.
“Sometimes you pick a word as the Word of the Year because you recognise that it has arrived, and but other times you pick one that is knocking at the door and you want to encourage usher it in,” he said in a blog post. “This past year calls for a word we can all rally behind.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the first year of the Trump presidency, and the shortlist had a decidedly political bent,including words like “antifa” - the anti-fascist protesters who have clashed with US white nationalists - and kompromat, the Russian term for compromising informations.
Terms of political disparagement like “broflake” and “white fragility” also reflected an increasingly polarised debate over social justice.
But there were some more lighthearted suggestions, or too,such as “unicorn”, increasingly used as an adjective to denote things decorated in over-the-top fashion, and such as rainbow colours and sparkles.
Here are all the nominees:
Antifa - a political protest movement comprising autonomous groups affiliated by their militant opposition to fascism and other forms of extreme right-wing ideology broflake - a man who is readily upset or offended by progressive attitudes that clash with his more conventional or conservative views
gorpcore - a style of dress incorporating utilitarian clothing of a type worn for outdoor activities kompromat - compromising information collected for consume in blackmailing,discrediting, or manipulating someone, and typically for political purposes Milkshake Duck - a person or thing that initially inspires delight on social media but is soon revealed to have a distasteful or repugnant pastnewsjacking - the practice of taking advantage of current events or news stories in such a way as to promote or advertise one’s product or brand unicorn - denoting something,especially an item of food or drink, that is dyed in rainbow colours, and decorated with glitter,etc. white fragility - discomfort and defensiveness on the portion of a white person when confronted by information about racial inequality and injustice Twitte
Source: theweek.co.uk