Each year, the American Dialect Society vote on what they call the “Word of the Year”. It might be a new word that was coined by a politician or singer, it might be a word that adopted a new meaning, or it might be an old word that suddenly surged in popularity. Sometimes the ‘word’ of the year is actually two words that, when put together, have a new meaning.
Since 1999, I have selected my own personal “Word of the Year”. Like the ADS, my choice can be a word I never heard before, or one that suddenly surged in popularity for me personally (for whatever reason). When two words seem to be vying for Word of the Year, I select one ‘winner’ and one runner-up.
Below are my “Words of the Year,” with brief explanations.
All words are clickable links.
| Year | Word | Definition | Explanation | Runner-up (if any) | Definition | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Filmlet | A short film; generally under 40 or 60 minutes. | Began using the term to describe the short films I create. | |||
| 2000 | Viscosity | The property of resistance to flow in a fluid. | Studied viscocity and used a viscometer in college. | Flyboat | A street in the city of Apple Valley. | Put a down payment on a townhome on Flyboat Lane. |
| 2001 | Denouement | The final outcome of the dramatic complications in a literary work. | Learned the word in film class in college. Loved it. | |||
| 2002 | GMP (Good Manufacturing Processes) | The practices and systems required to be adapted in pharmaceutical industries. | Began working in pharmaceutical industry. | |||
| 2003 | Environmental Monitoring | The processes and activities that characterize and monitor the quality of a given environment. | Began working part-time in microbiology department. | |||
| 2004 | Big Lake | A city in Minnesota, northwest of the Twin Cities metro area. | Moved to Big Lake. | Doula | A person who provides non-medical support to women and their families during labor, childbirth, and postpartum. | My wife hired a doula during her pregnancy. |
| 2005 | Cephalohematoma | A localized effusion of blood beneath the skull of a newborn due to the disruption of vessels during birth. | My son was born with it. | |||
| 2006 | Cognitive Dissonance | The discomfort caused by holding conflicting ideas or beliefs simultaneously. | Realized this was a condition I'd had for about five years. | Love Bombing | The deliberate show of affection by an individual or group toward another individual motivated by the desire to recruit, convert, or influence. | Finally was able to put a term to a practice I'd seen, oh, about ten thousand times. |
| 2007 | Apraxia | A disorder of the brain and nervous system in which a person is unable to perform certain tasks or movements. | My son was diagnosed with it. | Theodicy | Philosophical attempts to rationalize a just, loving deity with the evil in the world. | Read a lot about this in 2007. |
| 2008 | Geocaching | An outdoor activity in which people use navigation techniques to hide and seek containers. | A friend introduced me to this activity. | |||
| 2009 | Matriculation | The formal process of being admitted to a college or university. | Enrolled at Hamline University. | |||
| 2010 | Firestorm | A conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and maintains its own wind system. | Visited Hinckley Fire Museum, and read a book about it. | |||
| 2011 | Dunnage | Material used to protect and secure cargo during transport. | Transferred to packaging department at work. | |||
| 2012 | VoC (Voice of Customer) | A business term used to describe an in-depth process of discovering a customer's wants and needs. | Worked extensively on VoC initiatives at work. | |||
| 2013 | Overton Window | The range of ideas the public will accept. | First heard this term at an Atheists' Conference. | Comstockian Language | Language fit for a prudish audience. | Also heard this term at the conference. |
| 2014 | Historiography | The study of historical writing. | Wrote an historiography for History class in college. | |||
| 2015 | KonMari | A way of life and a state of mind that encourages cherishing the things that spark joy in people’s lives. | Read the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up | Diatomaceous Earth | A naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. | |
| 2016 | Minnesota Miracle | The series of legislative and grassroots reforms that took place in late-20th-century Minnesota that improved education. | Wrote a paper for History class in college. | |||
| 2017 | Syuzhet | The way a story is organized. | First heard in college class. | Fabula | The raw material of a story. | First heard in college class. |
| 2018 | IOC | Internet-Only Question | First heard at trivia night at Bay Street Grill. |
Hey there my name is Jill and I’m a blogger and this really aided me. I’m inspired! Thank you!