The Oxford English Dictionary.

-

Pixabay / dragonfly789

How to sum up the year 2020 in one word?

For members of the

Oxford English Dictionary

this was impossible.

Thus, in view of the eventful year which is about to end, they have decided to designate several words "of an unprecedented year

», Reports the BBC, relayed by

Slate

.

The British Dictionary explains that it chose these terms based on what they say "about ethics, mood or concerns of the past year and which have lasting potential as terms of cultural significance".

With 2020 marked by the coronavirus pandemic, officials at the Oxford Dictionary have compiled a list of words to sum it up.

"Covid-19", "WFH" (short for 

working from home

, the equivalent of telework in French), "confinement", "essential worker" and "leave" were therefore chosen to evoke the health crisis.

OXFORD WORD OF THE YEAR 2020:



With everything that has happened throughout 2020, we concluded that this year could not be summarized by one single “Word of the Year”.



Download our Words of an Unprecedented Year report for the full story.

# WOTY2020

- Oxford Languages ​​(@OxLanguages) November 22, 2020

"Black Lives Matter" and "QAnon"

The phrase "Black Lives Matter" is also part of the words of the year.

The militant movement created in the United States against racism and police violence was the subject of numerous demonstrations in 2020, especially after the death of George Floyd.

The other words chosen are also taken from the busy news of this year: "acquittal" in relation to Donald Trump, "QAnon", a conspiracy movement of the United States, "bushfire" for the many fires that have occurred and “cancel culture”, a kind of organized boycott of a person.

In 2019, the Oxford Dictionary had chosen “climate emergency” and “toxic” in 2018. In early November, the English dictionary Collins had designated “lockdown” as the word of the year 2020.

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