Front Porch: Summing up the year in a word - or a few of them

Word nerds really enjoy the end of the year, the time when assorted lexicographers and others involved in or simply lovers of lexicology come up with their words (or sometimes phrases) of the year, often based on how many times the words are looked up by the public, but always involving some cultural impact.

And so, this particular word nerd loves to write an end-of-the-year review about just that. Welcome to the 2023 Word of the Year column.

Jumping right in – some years have had a lot of fun words. I remember last year’s homer by Cambridge Dictionary, based on an experience with the megapopular Wordle word game. Earlier years produced emoji (2015, Oxford University Press).

Things have become more serious and more focused, for the most part, plus the word-of-the-year event has expanded to include words of the year for students, slang words and more. And there have long been words of the year from countries across the globe, which always make for interesting reading

There’s a lot to digest, but I’ll stick to those sources most familiar to Americans and do a bit of a deeper dive into one dictionary’s process, but here’s a list of some of the Words of the Year for 2023 (there is a bit of a theme here) from the major players.

Cambridge Dictionary: Hallucinate. The definition given here is that “when an artificial intelligence (=a computer system that has some of the qualities that the human brain has, such as the ability to produce language in a way that seems human) hallucinates, it produces false information.

Dictionary.com: Hallucinate. Slightly different definition: “(of artificial intelligence) to produce false information contrary to the intent of the user and present it as if true and factual.”

Collins Dictionary: AI, the modeling of human mental functions by computer programs.

Oxford University Press: Rizz, generally considered a version of the word charisma, meaning style, charm or attractiveness and the ability to attract a romantic partner. A popular expression, I’m told, among Gen Z.

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the year for 2023 is authentic – not false or imitation; true to one’s own personality, spirit or character.

We often see the word used as an adjective before such other words as voice, self and cuisine.

Entertainment phenom Taylor Swift often speaks about seeking her authentic voice, as do other public figures. The word has risen in the nation’s consciousness and dictionary lookups because of growing interest in artificial intelligence uses and misuses, personal identity, deepfake videos and more.

In consideration of its choice for 2023, Merriam-Webster had an interesting list of runners-up.

Rizz was one, as was deepfake, the altering or misrepresenting of images or recordings of persons as doing or saying things not actually done or said.

Related to that was dystopian, in this use, presenting imagery of looming injustice or great suffering that was generated from fiction, the real world or AI. This kind of imagery was seen in 2023 creating pictures of the world if particular candidates were elected or certain political initiatives taken or not taken, as well as other dystopian images ranging from AI subjugating humans or forest fires consuming the nation.

On a happier note, Merrian-Webster also considered coronation, a word gaining interest when King Charles III was crowned in London in May. Also on the short list was EGOT, an acronym for all four of the big awards – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony – won by a single individual. (Viola Davis earned EGOT status in February when she won a Grammy, having previously secured the other three).

There was also X, the rebranding of Twitter by Elon Musk, and indict, a word whose lookups jumped 9,440% in March when former President Trump was indicted in a hush-money case.

Looking through the lists of words of the year and the runners-up from each of the sources is an interesting overview (if you are lexicologically inclined) of what 2023 has brought us.

Let’s hope the new year brings forth words like peace and kindness, at least to the short list.

Happy New Year.

Voices correspondent Stefanie Pettit can be reached by email at upwindsailor@comcast.net