’Youthquake’ named Oxford Dictonaries’ word of 2017

LONDON: “Youthquake” was crowned on Friday as Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year 2017, following a five-fold increase in usage. The word is defined as “a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people.” It first rose during Britain’s June general election, which saw an upsurge in youth turnout, then had an even bigger spike in September around New Zealand’s general election. However, the word was first coined in 1965 by the then Vogue magazine editor Diana Vreeland to describe how youth culture was changing fashion and music. It beat eight other words on the shortlist. These included “milkshake duck,” a “person or thing that initially inspires delight on social media but is soon revealed to have a distasteful or repugnant past” and “white fragility,” defined as “discomfort and defensiveness on the part of a white person when confronted by information about racial inequality and injustice.” Also shortlisted was “broflake,” a man who is readily upset or offended by progressive attitudes that conflict with his more conventional or conservative views, and “newsjacking,” defined as taking advantage of current events to promote a brand. Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Dictionaries, said Youthquake was a word everyone could rally behind. “Youthquake may not seem like the most obvious choice for Word of the Year, and it’s true that it’s yet to land firmly on American soil, but strong evidence in the UK calls it out as a word on the move,” he said.

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