#Oxford couldn’t pick just one ‘word of the year’ for 2020

In this singularly extraordinary year, writers of the Oxford English Dictionary couldn’t choose just one word to define 2020.

The language company broke with their annual tradition of picking one word to sum up the year — “toxic” and “youthquake” have taken the cake in years past. But this year was different.

“It quickly became apparent that 2020 is not a year that could neatly be accommodated in one single ‘word of the year,’ ” said the OED in their new report, “Words of an Unprecedented Year” — a title which itself contains one of the most uttered adjectives during the past 12 months.

“What was genuinely unprecedented this year was the hyper-speed at which the English-speaking world amassed a new collective vocabulary relating to the coronavirus, and how quickly it became, in many instances, a core part of the language,” the report reads.

The words highlighted are a look back at this historic year, beginning with January’s “bushfires” in Australia, one of their worst on record. The word “acquittal” was plucked for February following President Donald Trump’s disputed impeachment hearings.

But winter’s milestones pale in comparison to what spring had in store. “COVID-19” was first recorded in a World Health Organization report on Feb. 11 and had become inescapable by March. The words “lockdown,” “social distancing” and “reopening” were also emphasized by the OED.

The phrase “Black Lives Matter” defined the summer, along with “BIPOC,” an abbreviation for “Black, indigenous and other people of color.” At the same time, “cancel culture” was on the rise.

“Mail-in,” referring to US voter restrictions, peaked in August. By fall, “superspreaders” had become a new focal point in the fight against the coronavirus. While the word itself dates back to the 1970s, according to the OED, use of the word spiked following an outbreak at the White House.

Last year, linguists highlighted the term “climate emergency.”