The world of writing

The world in a word, God’s Own Country and A Promised Land – survey the landscape in the crazy world of writing

BAD YEAR FOR THE WORLD

Getting an early run at the one time of the year lexicography actually makes the news, Cambridge Dictionary and Collins Dictionary have announced their word of the year winners.

For Cambridge, unsurprisingly it’s quarantine, chosen for the frequency of searches and views, which hit a peak in March.

Equally as uninspiringly on-the-nose are Collins, who favour lockdown as word of the year. Their nomination is based on popular usage, which they say has increased by a factor of sixty in comparison with 2019.

Collins up the stakes a little by offering their top ten, but still not quite as much fun as usual: it includes coronavirus, social distancing, self-isolate, furlough and, as a phrase, key worker. Also ranked were BLM (BlackLivesMatter), Megxit, for the withdrawal of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from royal duties, and TikToker, for somebody who clearly has too much time on their hands.

There was one sparkle for the writer looking for ideas: mukbang, a broadcast or video in which the host eats a large quantity of food for viewers’ entertainment. It does not originate, as you might be expecting, from onomatopoeic regional slang, but from Korea, where the practice is apparently more widespread.

Closer to home meanwhile, residents of Miscellany Manors have some choice contenders of our own for word of the year in which society shut down, the world went up in flames and the UK shambled towards no deal, but decency dictates we avoid printing them here.

‘APPEN IT’S TRUE,THAT

Writers looking for dialectical determinism in their characters should pay close attention to a survey conducted by marketplace website Onbuy.com

They asked respondents to identify which accents they found most, and least, trustworthy. Topping the list – correctly, as any resident of God’s Own Country will tell you, probably at great length – was Yorkshire, ahead even of received pronunciation, with the Edinburgh accent in third. At the other end of the scale, being least trusted, were Brummie, Scouse and, less stereotypically, East Anglian.