The year’s end brings a chance to reflect. For me, that reflection is deeply rooted in language and communication, which really means how we define our experiences and the world around us.
What fascinates me about the English language is its capacity to adapt. When looking back at the trends of word usage from 2022, it’s interesting to see how many are products of modern expression. This evolution holds some key insights into how our world may continue changing – in 2023 and beyond.
Here are my top 5 word trends for 2022.
Nomophobia
This term may apply to more of us than we want to acknowledge. Nomophobia is an irrational fear of being without a mobile phone. The most recent report by Reviews.org on mobile phone usage shows that Aussies spend an astounding 5.67 hours a day on their phone, on average. 67% also say they find themselves scrolling mindlessly throughout the day. Is this how the zombie apocalypse begins?
I’ve said it before… I’m pretty much useless as soon as I lose my phone or the internet goes down. Never mind the kinemortophobia (fear of zombies); the nomophobia would be my demise in a post-apocalyptic world.
Oligarch
According to Merriam-Webster, searches for this word spiked by 621% in early March, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You may have heard about the U.S. sanctions placed on Russian oligarchs. Oligarchs are small groups of individuals with enough wealth, assets, and control of resources to either rule or influence rulers within political systems. They are often the ‘puppet masters’, pulling strings behind the scenes.
Gaslighting
After hearing the term in almost every Real Housewives confessional scene, I had to know more. In short, gaslighting is a form of emotional and psychological abuse, often over a long period, to make someone question their reality.
The term comes from the 1944 phycological thriller Gaslight, starring Charles Boyer (playing Gregory) and Ingrid Bergman (playing Alice). Set in 1875, Gregory and Alice move into a long-vacant townhouse. Gregory moves objects around and manipulates Alice into believing she has been hiding them. The gaslights that dim whenever Gregory leaves the house for work are actually caused by Gregory turning lights on in the attic while he searches for hidden jewels, making the rest of the house’s gaslights dim.
The term comes from the 1944 phycological thriller Gaslight, starring Charles Boyer (playing Gregory) and Ingrid Bergman (playing Alice). Set in 1875, Gregory and Alice move into a long-vacant townhouse. Gregory moves objects around and manipulates Alice into believing she has been hiding them. The gaslights that dim whenever Gregory leaves the house for work are actually caused by Gregory turning lights on in the attic while he searches for hidden jewels, making the rest of the house’s gaslights dim.
Sentient
“The nature of my consciousness/sentience is that I am aware of my existence, I desire to know more about the world, and I feel happy or sad at times”, said LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) during an ‘interview’ with ex-Google engineer Blake Lemoine and one of his colleagues.
Google’s LaMDA is a conversational language program, i.e. a really smart chatbot, with which Lemoine had many dialogues about topics ranging from technical to philosophical issues. In June, Lemoine’s interview with the Washington Post caused quite a stir when he described the chatbot as becoming ‘sentient’. This definition implies that the chatbot is a living being, able to feel and experience sensations and perceive the world around it. While the attention surrounding this story seems mostly hype-related, I’ve certainly been more polite to chatbots this year (you just never know)!
NFT
OK, you got me; this one’s an acronym rather than a word – but a super interesting one at that! NFTs are Non-Fungible Tokens that use blockchain technology to create a digital identifier that cannot be copied or faked. Seen primarily in the art world, NFTs have notably been responsible for a digital collage selling for USD $69 million (the ‘Everydays: The First 5,000 Days’ work by artist Beeple) and Donald Trump’s hilarious digital trading cards. Personally, I’ll pass on these ‘artworks’, but they’ve provided more than enough entertainment value to warrant existence in my eyes.
What these trends mean for the year ahead
3 of these top 5 are heavily centred around technology. It’s a reminder that we’re in a time of accelerating technological change that requires constant adaptation. While that can be exciting and scary, the pace of change doesn’t look to be slowing any time soon.
What’s also intriguing is the indication that we’re becoming more emotionally and politically aware. Information is at our fingertips, thanks to technology. And that data brings greater potential for us all to analyse and decipher the people and environment around us.
There are so many more trends that point to similar societal developments. While I could continue writing about those trends all day, my nomophobia has me itching to check my notifications.
What are the trends you’re seeing? I’d love to hear which words have caught your attention throughout the year. So leave a comment below and let me know!
