What’s America in a word

Free, divided and broken among citizens’ description of country

NEW YORK: Free and great, or divided and confused. Diverse and powerful, or troubled and broken.

In search of a single word encapsulating their country at this moment, Americans offered pollsters a lexicon reflecting both hope and dissonance.

The most-uttered word from about 1,000 responses to the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research survey was “freedom,” with “free” not far behind at number 4.

“Great” took second place – and “good”, “powerful”, “wonderful” and “awesome” also occupied the top tier. But crowding the list were entries mirroring national angst.

“Divided” ranked third, and “confused” and “troubled” tied for fifth, amassed alongside other words of distress: “broken,” “lost,” and more bluntly, “screwed”.

Pollsters say grouping people’s answers together with synonyms and related words is a better reflection of public sentiment.

Viewed that way, “struggling,” “declining” and their synonyms accounted for the biggest chunk of words, from about one-fifth of answers. Some 18% of respondents offered words related to American greatness, prosperity and power, which collectively ranked second, followed by those linked to freedom (15%), and “confused”, “lost” and similar choices (10%).

Positive and negative words were almost evenly split.

“When you see words like ‘ freedom’ and ‘divided’ together, you get a good little portrait of what people are thinking,” said Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster, the dictionary publisher.

“You can’t get more balanced than that.”

Republicans used “struggling,” “declining” and similar terms more than Democrats (27% versus 15%). Those without college degrees were also likelier to do so.

Bobby Underwood, a 67-year-old retired carpet mill worker in Dalton, Georgia, chose “troubled”.

With killings of police officers, Islamic State group attacks, a divisive election and concerns about the economy and illegal immigration, Underwood said he was left with an unhappy word in his mind.

“Troubled,” he said. “That pretty much sums it up for me.”

When you see words like ‘freedom’ and ‘divided’ together, you get a good little portrait of what people are thinking. Peter sokolowski