Oxford Word of the Year | God's World News

Oxford Word of the Year

12/21/2017
  • LON802 word
    (AP Photo: Oxford Dictionary of English)

Oxford Dictionaries recently recognized the power of the millennial generation with its 2017 word of the year: youthquake. Oxford lexicographers (dictionary compilers) say there was a fivefold increase in use of the term between 2016 and 2017.

Youthquake is defined as “a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people.”

The word, coined almost 50 years ago by then-Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, has been used to describe phenomena including surging youth support for Britain’s Labour Party and the election of 30-something leaders in France and New Zealand.

Each year, Oxford University Press tracks how the English language is changing and chooses a word that reflects the annual mood. Oxford Dictionaries president Casper Grathwohl said youthquake has “yet to land firmly on American soil, but strong evidence in the United Kingdom calls it out as a word on the move.” The word kompromat, a Russian term for compromising information collected for political leverage, was a runner-up word.

Oxford Dictionaries consultant Susie Dent says many of the year’s standout words “speak to fractured times of mistrust and frustration.” She says, “In youthquake we find some hope in the power to change things and had a little bit of linguistic fun along the way,” Dent adds, “It feels like the right note on which to end a difficult and divisive year.”

In the United States, the word wizards at Merriam-Webster selected feminism as their word of the year.

Think about words you’ve heard or read often this year. What would you name as your word of the year?

(AP Photo: Oxford Dictionary)