[Ads-l] "dumpster fire" is the 2016 American Dialect society word of the year

Ben Zimmer bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM
Sat Jan 7 14:59:24 UTC 2017


Yes, "gaslighting" did have special prominence in 2016. See e.g.:

http://www.teenvogue.com/story/donald-trump-is-gaslighting-america
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/06/politics/gaslighting-election-2016-unprecedented/
https://newrepublic.com/article/136902/trumps-racist-birther-gaslighting-strategy-taken-gop
http://www.salon.com/2016/10/16/donald-trump-as-a-gaslighter-what-we-must-learn-from-his-manipulative-non-apology/
https://www.texasobserver.org/how-the-gop-is-gaslighting-america/

On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 8:00 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:

> What is the rationale for naming "gaslight" as the most useful/likely to
> succeed?  The word has been around for decades.  Did it come to some
> special prominence in 2016?
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Grant Barrett
> Sent: Friday, January 6, 2017 8:47 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: "dumpster fire" is the 2016 American Dialect society word of the
> year
>
> In its 27th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society
> voted for dumpster fire as the Word of the Year for 2016. Defined as “an
> exceedingly disastrous or chaotic situation,” the term dumpster fire was
> selected as best representing the public discourse and preoccupations of
> the past year.
>
> Read the full press release, including all winners, candidates, and vote
> tallies for all candidates:
>
> http://www.americandialect.org/dumpster-fire-is-2016-
> american-dialect-society-word-of-the-year
>
>
>
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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