Nancy FriedmanOn January 6, the American Dialect Society's members chose "-ussy" as the word of the year for 2022. Here's my take, with thanks to @kirby @becauselangpod @EditorMark and others. (Cat-in-dryer photo by @mikepope) https://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2023/01/word-of-the-week-ussy.html
Christian Wilkie@Fritinancy @kirby @becauselangpod @EditorMark @mikepope Yeah, I vote no on this one. I've never heard this trend before (which tells me I've been making correct life decisions), and as others have suggested, it's not a word. Is ADS worried about feeling relevant to the youth?
@cwwilkie It's a "lexical item," like the WotY for 1998: "e-." Or the WotY for 2001: "9-11."
The people who vote at ADS *are* the youth. A couple hundred grad students.
@cwwilkie It's a Linguistic Brain choice ("so productive!"), but I fail to see how it reflects the year. I'd have gone with J6 or abortion or AI. But of those choices, only J6 is likely to be considered linguistically (as opposed to socially) interesting.
@Fritinancy I was going to say, if it's not a matter of what was most popular or of the zeitgeist, but what they feel should be most important, then who can stop them.
@cwwilkie Exactly the impression I got at the two WotY sessions I attended. Lately there's also been a prankish impulse to make Ben Zimmer squirm (as if!), since he'll have to talk to the media about the selection.
Because Language@Fritinancy @cwwilkie This is a perennial urge. People said the same thing about "big dick energy" for 2018. BZ is never fazed.
@becauselangpod @Fritinancy No, we had a half-hour exchange about "-ass" as intensifier and grammatical rules that prohibited "-assed" substitution. He fears no worldly terrors.
But did you notice how elated some linguists are about it? There a sense of pleasure that the #WotY2022 is silly and naughty, instead of being about politics or covid.
@becauselangpod @cwwilkie Is that what it's about — hijinks and a sense of relief?
@Fritinancy @cwwilkie Well, if the goal is to capture the mood of the year… then I say there’s your mood.
@becauselangpod @cwwilkie We're living in different wirlds
@Fritinancy @becauselangpod I can see how it'd be a refreshing change. Like, here's one for us, instead of fulfilling some kind of responsibility. Now, if it becomes a trend, if they no longer report but turn to guiding and influencing… well, I guess there's an audience for that, too.
@cwwilkie @becauselangpod They're academics. This is their chance to wield some power over people other than undergrads. My take, anyway.
@cwwilkie @Fritinancy It’s not just that. The recognition of a new combining form is significant.
@becauselangpod @cwwilkie I get that. It's just not very significant for non-linguists. But maybe that doesn't matter to the attendees.