No single word sums up ‘unprecedented’ 2020

IN SIMPLER times, the likes of ‘vape’ and ‘selfie’ were declared word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries. But 2020 has left compilers so spoiled for choice, they couldn’t pick one winner.

Covid-related words, such as furlough, lockdown, moonshot and superspreader, all earn a mention after use of ‘pandemic’ rose by 57,000 per cent.

But other terms in the mix include Black Lives Matter, cancel culture and bushfire. A report for the dictionaries said 2020 ‘cannot be neatly accommodated in one single “word of the year.”’