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This year’s title goes to “post-truth,” which denotes circumstances in which emotional appeal or personal beliefs override facts in shaping public opinion.
"The Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year is a word or expression chosen to reflect the passing year in language," the dictionary website reports.
The word’s been around for a while. According to OD, it was used in 1992 by Serbian-American playwright Steve Tesich concerning the Iran-Contra scandal and Persian Gulf War in an essay published by The Nation. Usage of the word increased by 2000 percent since last year, mainly because of two major political events: Britain’s Brexit vote and the United States’ presidential election.
"Post-truth" is a big contrast from last year’s winner, which was an emoji crying tears of joy -- 😂
Some of the contenders for this year’s lexicon crown:
Adulting: Behaving like a responsible adult, especially when it involves mundane tasks. Used in a sentence: "Taking out the trash, doing your taxes and washing the cereal bowl are examples of adulating."
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Coulrophobia: An extreme fear of clowns. Used in a sentence: "Creepy clown sightings earlier this fall in several states, including Ohio -- three in the Dayton area -- led to some people's coulrophobia."
Chatbot: Artificial intelligence software designed to converse with people. Siri is an example. Used in a sentence: "Our reliance on chatbots could lead to 'robopocalypse' becoming next year's word of the year."
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