Dictionary.com Names ‘Woman’ As Their Word Of The Year, And We Wish It Remains So Each Year!
Women went through a lot this year!
As 2022 is coming to a close, this year saw a turbulent turn of events in the lives of women across the world. It was scary seeing news reports of the number of times the basic rights of women were curbed and cancelled in countries all over the globe. But the silver lining to these dark clouds was there were women who broke glass ceilings and achieved great success in many fields as well. And because the search volume on the internet for the word ‘woman’ was more this year, Dictionary.com has chosen it to be the word of the year!
Announcing the word for 2022 on Twitter, Dictionary.com wrote that their word of the year is not only fundamental to the language but also to who we are as human beings. Elaborating more on why they chose ‘woman’ as their word of the year, the site wrote that there was a significant spike in the word with regard to different important events over the world.
Giving more insight, Dictionary.com wrote that the search volume for the word ‘women’ increased by 1400 per cent which is a huge number for a word this common! The demise of Queen Elizabeth, the brutal death of Mhasa Amini and the retirement of Serena Williams were some of the events that shook the world. In addition to this, the overturning of Roe V Wade in the USA also sparked a huge debate on social media about a woman’s reproductive rights that also led to people going on to the internet to look up the word ‘woman’.
This year, searches for the word "woman" spiked significantly multiple times in relation to separate high-profile events, including the moment when a question about the very definition of the word was posed on the national stage. #WordOfTheYear https://t.co/3lExL2xmkF
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) December 13, 2022
During the height of the lookups for "woman" in 2022, searches for the word increased more than 1,400% (a massive leap for such a common word). Subsequent spikes eventually resulted in double the typical annual search volume for the word. https://t.co/3lExL2fLt7
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) December 13, 2022
A lot of people on Twitter went on to appreciate Dictionary.com choosing ‘woman’ as the word of the year. One of them wrote, “That’s nice but woman has been my word of the year every year”, while another reshared the tweet with a couple of appreciative emojis. See their tweets below.
that’s nice but woman has been my word of the year every year https://t.co/0L8nqyXdpu
— overdrafted buying an indulgence (@strugglinguncle) December 13, 2022
Our #WordOfTheYear is fundamental not just to our vocabulary but to who we are as humans. It’s a word that’s inseparable from the story of 2022. https://t.co/OeJELgy3YL’s Word of the Year is “woman.”https://t.co/3lExL2fLt7 pic.twitter.com/5fkIWDLmsE
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) December 13, 2022
https://twitter.com/sharper76/status/1602806025551216642
https://twitter.com/spoke_once/status/1602696417134669825
But it looks like Twitter users were triggered over Dictionary.com defining what it means to be a woman. Tweeple pointed out that the site defining women was anti-trans women.
They could've used this opportunity to talk about the struggles this past year with Roe v Wade getting repealed or other issues.
Instead they drag trans people into the spotlight yet again. Terfs are going to eat this up. https://t.co/loJ6ZfoteL
— Claire (Queer Band Member Arc) (@ProgesteroniZa) December 14, 2022
Gonna be honest I really don't appreciate you bringing trans people into the spotlight unless its supportive. You could've done this whole thing without mentioning us at all and it would've been better than what you wrote… no one needs this right now.
— kibby 🦴 (@Kaby_bby) December 14, 2022
Why are you as a dictionary coming out as ambivalent about trans rights
— worms cited (@christapeterso) December 13, 2022
Also read: Twitter Unhappy With Cambridge Dictionary Redefining Meanings Of Woman And Man. They’re Sticking To God’s OG Ones!
A lot happened to women from all over the world to make people realise that women’s rights are treated as a joke. On the other hand, people also realised the power and influence women like the Queen held over the masses. It was a tough year for women and it was rightly chosen as the word of the year!
First Published: December 14, 2022 4:43 PM
