In a world where inclusion is important, ‘THEY’ saw a huge increase in searches!
From NY Post:
A common but increasingly mighty and very busy little word, “they,” has an accolade all its own.
The language mavens at Merriam-Webster have declared the personal pronoun their word of the year based on a 313 percent increase in look-ups on the company’s search site, Merriam-Webster.com, this year when compared with 2018.
“I have to say it’s surprising to me,” said Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, ahead of Tuesday’s announcement. “It’s a word we all know and love. So many people were talking about this word.”
The American Dialect Society, which is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, named “they” its word of the year for 2015, in recognition of its emergence among people who reject “he” and “she.”
In September, Merriam-Webster experienced another big increase in look-ups for “they” when pop star Sam Smith wrote on social media that their preferred pronouns were “they” and “them.” Smith said the decision came after a “lifetime of being at war with my gender.”
Sokolowski told The Associated Press that “they,” one of a handful of nonbinary pronouns to emerge in recent years, is “here to stay.” Nick Adams, director of transgender representation for the LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, said Merriam-Webster’s choice is a positive step in acknowledging nonbinary people.
And the Merriam-Webster runners-up?
They include “quid pro quo,” “impeach” and “crawdad,” the latter a word in the title of Delia Evans best-selling novel, “Where the Crawdads Sing.” The Top 10 also included “egregious,” “clemency” and “the,” a shocker of a look-up spike when The Ohio State University attempted to patent the word to protect its turf. It failed.
Also in the mix: “snitty,” which emerged on the lips of Attorney General William Barr in reference to a letter by Robert Mueller about a summary Barr wrote of the Mueller report.
We have Washington Post columnist George Will to thank for “tergiversation.” The word, meaning an evasion or desertion, was Merriam-Webster’s top look-up on Jan. 24 after Will used it in a column in reference to Lindsey Graham.
The words “camp” and “exculpate” rounded out the Top 10 list.
(image source: Twitter)