Nominations for Words of the Year 2023 follow below.
The final selection will be held at 7:30 pm EST on Friday, Jan. 5 (in the Metro East Ballroom of the Sheraton Times Square).
American Dialect Society 2023 Words of the Year
NOMINATIONS to be voted on by the American Dialect Society, Jan. 5, 2024, New York, NY.
EUPHEMISM OF THE YEAR
- artificial intelligence: computerized simulation of human intelligence that is not actually intelligent
- effective altruism: movement ostensibly to benefit humanity, used as an excuse for spending other people’s money
- free bird: alternative to “empty-nester” promoted by Gwyneth Paltrow
- structurally restrictive housing: solitary confinement (rebranded by the New York City Department of Correction)
MOST CREATIVE WORD OF THE YEAR
- assholocene: the current era of human history, defined by the ubiquity of assholes
- delulu: delusion, as in delulu is the solulu (delusion is the solution)
- Kenaissance: renaissance in the wake of Barbie’s depiction of Ken (also Kenergy, Kenough)
- tush push: quarterback sneak for short yardage perfected by the Philadelphia Eagles (also called the brotherly shove)
AI-RELATED WORD THE YEAR (ad-hoc category)
- ChatGPT: name for OpenAI’s chatbot, now becoming generic for generative AI systems
- hallucination: AI-generated response containing false information presented as factual
- LLM (large language model): machine-learning model trained on a vast text corpus
- stochastic parrot: LLM that can generate plausible synthetic text without having any understanding
ACRONYM/INITIALISM OF THE YEAR (ad-hoc category)
- AITA (am I the asshole?): question asked to an online audience (as on Reddit) to determine if the person is at fault in a situation
- FAFO (fuck around and find out): warning that foolish actions will result in unwanted consequences
- IYKYK (if you know, you know): indication that something is a reference understood by a select group
- LFG (let’s fucking go): exhortation to action
- MOOP (matter out of place): waste material left behind at an event (esp. Burning Man)
INFORMAL WORD OF THE YEAR
- babygirl: older male fictional character or celebrity seen as emotionally damaged or vulnerable
- gyat, gyatt: exclamation expressing surprise, excitement, or admiration
- let (someone) cook: allow a person to do something that they are good at without interference
- rizz: charm or attractiveness, used as a combining form or blend component (rizzler, pre-rizz-toric)
DIGITAL WORD OF THE YEAR
- enshittification: worsening of a digital platform through reduction in quality of service
- gamers: second-person plural term of address, as on a gaming livestream
- ice cream so good: response by TikTok streamer Pinkydoll to receiving an ice cream emoji
- millennial pause: pause by a millennial at the beginning of a recorded video, as opposed to the Gen Z shake (shaky video at the start of recording)
- skibidi: nonsense word popularized by the YouTube animated series Skibidi Toilet
POLITICAL WORD OF THE YEAR
- context: word invoked by presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn to questions at a House hearing about prohibiting speech on campus
- hot labor summer/hot union summer: summer of 2023, when a number of unions went on strike
- I/P: shorthand for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict
- 🍉 (watermelon emoji): symbol of Palestinian solidarity used on social media
MOST USEFUL/MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED
- cunty: having an audaciously exceptional appearance or attitude
- enshittification: worsening of a digital platform through reduction in quality of service
- era: a personal period defined by a noteworthy style or behavior (esp. in in my X era)
- girl/boy X: way of doing something associated with a gender, as in girl dinner, girl math, boy math
- mother: (adj.) admirable (as a term of endearment); (v.) to perform something admirably
WORD OF THE YEAR
Nominations to be made at final meeting.