New word of the year is about youth

LONDON — Oxford Dictionaries recognized the power of the millennial generation earlier this month with its 2017 word of the year: youthquake.

Oxford lexicographers say there was a fivefold increase in use of the term between 2016 and 2017.

It is defined as “a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people”.

The word, coined almost 50 years ago by then-Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, has been used to describe phenomena including surging youth support for Britain’s Labour Party and the election of 30-something leaders in France and New Zealand.

Each year, Oxford University Press tracks how the English language is changing and chooses a word that reflects the annual mood.

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, says youthquake was a word everyone could rally behind.

“Youthquake may not seem like the most obvious choice for Word of the Year. 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 says.

Oxford Dictionaries consultant Susie Dent says many of the year’s standout words “speak to fractured times of mistrust and frustration”.

“In ‘youthquake’ we find some hope in the power to change things, and had a little bit of linguistic fun along the way,” she says. “It feels like the right note on which to end a difficult and divisive year.”

Last year’s word of the year was “post-truth”.