2018 Word of the Year

Every year, countless scintillating stories and events capture the attention of the public via the media. Both verbal and written communication with people involves using words that require a closer look because the meaning and the use of the words in certain contexts is not lucid. Therefore, people search up confusing words in a dictionary for better clarity. The searches on a dictionary spike when a prominent figure makes a bold statement to the public, which may include a word or a phrase that is open to multiple interpretations.

The word of the year is determined by online dictionary lookup data, and it differs from dictionary to dictionary. America’s most reputable dictionary, Merriam Webster’s 2018 word of the year is “justice.” Merriam Webster dictionary chooses the word of the year based on the two following criteria: the percentage increase in the lookups from the previous year and the word’s significance on the society. Justice is defined as “the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments” (http://www.merriam-webster.com).

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, there was a 74% increase in lookups for the word “justice” as compared to the previous year. The word “justice’’ has been at the heart of the national debate in recent years and its usage ranges from three branches of the criminal justice system to types of justice such as social justice, racial justice, and economic justice. In 2018, there was a lot of attention-grabbing news regarding the justice department. One such piece of news had to do with the department’s decision to strengthen the enforcement of marijuana laws. Although the meaning of the word “justice” seems fairly straightforward to people, the use of this word in specific contexts causes the readers to search up the word on a dictionary.

I believe that the word of the year represents the minds of the people in that particular year. Thus, we can deduce that in 2018, people sought justice in the midst of social tumult and in defense against social inequity. The 2017 word of the year was “feminism,” again informing the public what was in the minds of the people 2017.

The overall look-ups of the word corresponds to the frequency of that word in the media. The media exerts a great influence on the people in the present-day society; thus, we have to be aware of the influence the media has towards shaping our minds.