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The divisive U.S presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has led to the term “polarized” being used widely across the country. (Supplied) The election was so divisive that many American voters went into the vote believing that the opposing candidate was an existential threat to the country. According to a survey of more than 120,000 voters, about 80% of Kamala Harris voters were very or somewhat concerned that Donald Trump’s views were too extreme (but Harris’s were not), while about 70% of Trump voters felt the same way about Harris but not Trump. Merriam-Webster’s entry for “polarized” reflects both scientific and metaphorical definitions. It is most often used to mean “causing strong disagreement between opposing factions or groups.” Merriam-Webster, which receives 100 million page views each month, selects its Word of the Year based on data, tracking growth in searches and usage. Last year’s Word of the Year was “real.” This year’s Word of the Year comes as much of the country struggles to reach a consensus on what is real.
Australian breakdancer Rachael “Raygun” Gunn at the Paris Olympics. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) (Getty) “For me, dictionaries have always been important as neutral and objective arbiters of meaning for everyone,” Sokolowski said. “In an age of fake news, alternative facts, dictionaries are a backstop of meaning, whatever you want to say, of the value of a word in culture.” Notably, “polarisation” originated in the early 1800s — not the Renaissance, as most science-related Latin words do, Sokolowski said. He called it a “fairly young word” in English. “Polarised is a term that gives intensity to another word,” he continued, and in the United States the word is most often used to describe race relations, politics and ideology. “Polarization” goes beyond political connotations. It’s been used to highlight emerging fissures and deep rifts in pop culture, tech trends and other industries.
Taylor Swift’s use of a private jet has deeply divided some pop fans this year. (AP) Taylor Swift’s use of a private jet has sparked so much attention? Polarizing. The feud between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake? Polarizing. The International Olympic Committee’s decision to strip U.S gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal after the Paris Olympics? You guessed it: Polarizing. Even some of the lighter memes — like the one that made fun of Australian breakdancer Rachel “Raygan” Gunn’s performance — or the proliferation of copycat contests, or who counts as a mistress, have polarized. Here are the top 10 words in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary this year:
Demure
TikToker Jools Lebron sparked a buzz mid-year when she filmed a 38-second video describing her weekday makeup routine as “very demure, very attentive.
Fortnight
Taylor Swift’s song “Fortnight,” a collaboration with rapper Post Malone, has undoubtedly sparked a surge in searches for the term, which means two weeks.
April’s total solar eclipse over North America sparked searches for the word “total eclipse.” (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Totality
April’s solar eclipse wowed people and drew many tourists. Tens of millions of people live along a narrow strip of land from Mexico’s Pacific coast to eastern Canada, also known as the path of totality, as locals and tourists looked up to the sky to see the moon completely cover the sun.
Resonate
“The word ‘resonance’ was overrepresented in the AI-written texts,” Sokolowski said. That’s probably because the word, which means to affect or appeal to someone in a personal or emotional way, can add gravitas to writing.
Allision
In March, when a ship crashed into the Francis Scott Reef Bridge in the eastern United States, searches for the term were 60 times more frequent than usual.
Weird
On the TV news show “Morning Joe,” Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz called Republican leaders “weird.” That’s probably why he launched a national career as the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
Cognitive
Whether the term is used to question PUS resident Joe Biden’s debate performance or Trump’s own age, it comes up frequently. It refers to conscious intellectual activity – such as thinking, reasoning or remembering.
Pander
Sokolowski said pander is widely used in political commentary. It means to say, do or provide something that someone (like an audience member) wants or demands, even if it’s not “nice, appropriate or reasonable.”
Democracy
In 2003, Merriam-Webster decided to name “democracy” its first word of the year. Since then, the word—which, of course, refers to a form of government in which the people’s elected representatives make decisions, policies, and laws—has been one of the most searched words in the dictionary.