This is a time when we tend to reflect on the receding year before launching ourselves into a brand-new year. 2022 was momentous in many respects, for good and bad, as noted by the words that our dictionary masters have selected as the most relevant to describe the year that is ending.
The Oxford English Dictionary chose “goblin mode” as its word of the year for 2022. It defines the term as “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.” Caleb Jones/Associated Press
Merriam-Webster named “gaslighting” its 2022 word of the year, determined by how often readers looked up its definition. In a 1944 movie of that name, Charles Boyer tries to convince his wife, portrayed by Ingrid Bergman, that she is going insane. He secretly turns down the house’s gas lights and then insists that the lights are not dimming. (The film was set in the Victorian era, before LEDs.) The word “gaslighting” today describes “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for a personal advantage.”
We saw the term everywhere in 2022, from the contractor who never returns your calls after you’ve paid for the service, to the erstwhile friend who wishes you’d just go away but can’t quite tell you that, to the football player who argues with the game official that he didn’t ram that guy with his helmet – until the replay shows he did.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle used “gaslighting” with gusto. Just look at any 2022 “year in review.”
Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, chose “goblin mode.” It’s a slang term for being “unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.”
You’d think that “goblin mode” should have a negative connotation, unless you were one of those people who recognized that, despite all assurances, it still wasn’t safe to hang out in large, maskless crowds. Instead, you continued to shelter in place, in your pajamas, snacking on Skinny Pop and binging on reruns of “NCIS.” (Ahem.)
Dictionary.com made “woman” its word of the year, based on search data, language trends and “the cultural conversation.” It acknowledges the achievements and challenges that defined women in 2022.
There have been other years that have been officially or unofficially referred to as the Year of the Woman: 1984, when Geraldine Ferraro ran for president, or 2016, when Hillary Clinton did the same. But most blogs give the title to 1992, when four women successfully ran for the U.S. Senate, thereby tripling the number of female senators.
Women whose names were associated with 2022 include Ketanji Brown Jackson; Queen Elizabeth II; Serena Williams; Brittney Griner; Jina Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old who died in the custody of Iran’s “Morality Police”; Zara Rutherford, the youngest woman to fly around the world solo, and, of course, Jane Roe of the overturned Roe v. Wade.
As you are ringing in the New Year with family and friends, maybe you could ask, “What word would you choose to describe 2022?” Or not. It might put a damper on your festivities. Their answers could lead to a fruitful discussion … or a frightful fistfight.
Instead, maybe you could think ahead to the next New Year’s Eve. I like to believe that we have some control over how the coming year may turn out. Imagine the real or invented words you might generate to describe a year of accomplishments that benefit all people and creatures.
Three hundred and sixty-five days give us ample time to work on appropriate words for 2023. If not, then there’s always 2024. It’s a leap year.
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