Word of the Year 2016

középfok

Szerintetek melyik angol szó lett a 2016-os év szava a Merriam-Webster szótár szerint? A leckéből kiderül.

‘Surreal’ is the 2016 Word of the Year in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Surreal is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year because it was looked up significantly more frequently by users in 2016 than it was in previous years, and because there were multiple occasions on which this word was the one clearly driving people to their dictionary.

Our largest spike in lookups for ‘surreal’ followed the U.S. presidential election in November.

There are essentially two kinds of high-volume lookups that we track: perennial words that are looked up day-in and day-out, and words that spike because of news events, politics, pop culture, or sports. By analyzing these spikes, we can get a sense as to what significant events sent people to the dictionary, and sometimes, what people think about those events.

Surreal had three major spikes in interest that were higher in volume and were sustained for longer periods of time than in past years. In March, the word was used in coverage of the Brussels terror attacks. Then, in July, we saw the word spike again: it was used in descriptions of the coup attempt in Turkey and in coverage of the terrorist attack in Nice. Finally, we saw the largest spike in lookups for surreal following the U.S. election in November.

We define surreal as “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream.” We also give as its synonyms unbelievable and fantastic. It’s a relatively new word in English, and derives from surrealism, the artistic movement of the early 1900s that attempted to depict the unconscious mind in dreamlike ways as “above” or “beyond” reality. Surreal itself dates to the 1930s, and was first defined in a Merriam-Webster dictionary in 1967.

Surreal is often looked up spontaneously in moments of both tragedy and surprise, whether or not it is used in speech or writing. This is not surprising: we often search for just the right word to help us bring order to abstract thoughts, emotions, or reactions. Surreal seems to be, for 2016, such a word.

Here are nine more notable words that sent people to the dictionary in 2016:

Revenant

Icon

In Omnia Paratus

Bigly

Deplorable

Irregardless

Assumpsit

Faute de Mieux

Feckless

source: merriam-webster.com

Can you match the often looked up words with their definition?

1. revenant

a. lacking initiative or strength of character

2. faute de mieux

b. one that returns after death or a long absence

3. icon

c. for want of a better alternative

4. In Omnia Paratus

d. in a big manner

5. bigly

e. shockingly bad in quality

6. deplorable

f. a person who is very successful or admired

7. irregardless

g. an express or implied promise or contract not under seal on which an action may be brought

8. assumpsit

h. not even considering something

9. feckless

i. prepared for all things

Key: 

1. b.

2. c.

3. f.

4. i.

5. d.

6. e.

7. h.

8. g.

9. a.

Vocabulary

to look up

megnézni, kikeresni

significantly

jelentősen

frequently

rendszeresen

spike

kiugrás

lookup

megnézés, kikeresés

presidential election

elnökválasztás

essentially

alapvetően

perennial

egész éven át tartó

day-in and day-out

nap nap után

to analyze

elemezni, analizálni

to sustain

tartani, eltartani

coverage

tudósítás, közvetítés

description

leírás

intense

erős, intenzív

irrational

észszerűtlen, irracionális

unbelievable

hihetetlen

to derive from

eredni valahonnan

to attempt

megkísérelni

to depict

ábrázolni

unconscious mind

tudalatti, tudattalan

speech

beszéd

emotion

érzelem

notable

figyelemre méltó

revenant

visszatérő

icon

jelkép

In Omnia Paratus

mindenre kész

bigly

jelentősen, nagyon

deplorable

siralmas, szánalmas

irregardless

tekintet nélkül valamire

assumpsit

szóbelileg vagy írásban létrejött visszterhes jogügylet

Faute de Mieux

jobb híján

feckless

gyarló, gyenge, tehetetlen

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