Do Words of the Year Have Any Real Value?
Words of the Year have become a popular linguistic ritual over the past 35 years since the American Dialect Society first started the practice. This seasonal selection has spread into UK dictionaries, with different institutions choosing distinct top terms. For instance, Collins highlights "vibe coding," Cambridge emphasizes "parasocial," and Oxford names "rage bait."
However, some linguists argue that these picks often prioritize public attention and marketing over rigorous linguistic analysis. Lexicographers acknowledge the process is not purely objective; it aims more to capture imagination and year-specific usage rather than to predict the future trajectory of language.
Data from The Guardian shows that online slang or tech-related terms dominate these selections, making up over a third overall and rising to two-thirds since 2021. Notably, some past chosen words have quickly fallen out of common use—for example, "goblin mode" selected by Oxford in 2022 is now rare, while Cambridge's 2018 pick "nomophobia" remains relatively obscure. Other terms such as "NFT" (Collins 2021) and "youthquake" (Oxford 2017) have declined in popularity by approximately 96% and 92%, respectively.
Certain words linked to significant events like Brexit, vaccination, and quarantine capture the context of their time, while others related to political issues such as austerity or climate emergency tend to wax and wane with shifting political landscapes.
Jonathan Dent of the Oxford English Dictionary commented that longevity is not the primary goal of choosing Words of the Year. If a word continues to be widely used, it indicates usefulness; if not, its selection still reflects the significance of its particular year.
Views on the exercise vary widely—some see it mainly as an attention-grabbing marketing activity, while others regard it as a fun and engaging way to connect younger audiences with evolving language.
