Words of the year not exactly invigorating

If there is one thing they all lack this year, it’s integrity.

Since at least 1990, prominent dictionaries and other publications around the globe choose a word of the year. It may be the most looked-up word, perhaps the most controversial or debated. It may be a word whose cultural meaning has shifted, or a brand-new word.

Ironically, this year’s first was a warning against blind faith in words.

“Misinformation” is Dictionary.com’s choice, intended to be a much-needed “call to action” as well as 2018’s Word of the Year.

Dictionary.com is careful to point out that misinformation — false information that’s shared — should not be confused with disinformation, which includes deliberately spreading false information. Misinformation was a big topic this year, with high-profile stories of falsities spread on Facebook, or involving national political figures. By choosing misinformation, the site hopes to educate and encourage users to be vigilant in checking facts and source reliability.

The more established Oxford Dictionaries selects words “to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year (with) cultural significance.” So their 2018 choice is “toxic” — looked up 45 percent more often than in 2017. Derived from the Latin toxicum (poison), toxic has evolved, today more often referring to relationships, personality, or behavior which negatively impacts others.

Speaking of toxic, Collins Dictionary’s choice plays to that theme with “single-use” (yes, a hyphenated word counts). Single-use trash such as straws, plastics, and other items whose “unchecked proliferation are [sic] blamed for damaging the environment and affecting the food chain” increased 400 percent in just five years. Collins hopes to raise public awareness and reverse this trend.

Coming full circle, the German Youth Word of the Year, selected by the dictionary publisher Langenscheidt, is “Ehrenmann (or Ehrenfrau for women). On the surface, it refers to someone who can be counted on, who is loyal. But it’s more often used by younger Germans ironically, to describe someone who claims strong principles, but doesn’t actually apply them in real life.

One such principle struggling with modern life, as 2018’s Words of the Year seem to collectively suggest, is integrity — a sense of honesty, honor, and reliability in communications, relationships, and personal responsibility. Maybe 2019 will be its year.

•••

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email: Sholeh@cdapress.com