American linguists have named the main word of 2022
Miscellaneous / / April 05, 2023
Compilers of the Merriam-Webster American Dictionary called the main word of 2022. This gaslighting - a word that was searched 1740% more often in the dictionary over the past 12 months than a year earlier. It is noteworthy that increased interest persisted almost daily.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines gaslighting as the psychological manipulation of another person, usually over an extended period of time, that "causes the victim to question their own thoughts, perception of reality and memories, often leading to confusion, loss of self-confidence and self-control, insecurity in one's own emotional state and dependence on manipulator."
Most often people talk about gaslighting in the context of abusive romantic relationships, but it can manifest itself in other environments - for example, between family members or friends. You can even talk about medical gaslighting - when a medical specialist ignores the symptoms described by the patient or claims that he is inventing everything.
The compilers of the dictionary do not investigate why the popularity of a particular word increased in a certain year - they only analyze the number of requests and compare with previous data. That's why you can't say that people are more interested in gaslighting as a phenomenon: users could well use a dictionary to check the spelling of a word or examples of its use.
In Russia, the word of the year is determined by the Pushkin Institute, which has not yet announced the results of the 2022 study. What do you think it will be like?
Read also🧐
- How to recognize gaslighting and deal with it
- What is self-gaslighting and how to stop devaluing yourself
- From abuse to ageism: a concise dictionary for understanding what activists want
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