Oxford English Dictionary releases words of the year

The word “they” is displayed on a computer screen on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, in New York. The language mavens at Merriam-Webster have declared the …

The word “they” is displayed on a computer screen on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, in New York. The language mavens at Merriam-Webster have declared the personal pronoun their word of the year based on a 313 percent increase in look-ups on the company’s search site, Merriam-Webster.com, this year when compared with 2018. Merriam-Webster recently added a new definition to its online dictionary to reflect use of “they” as relating to a person whose gender identity is nonbinary.(AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Posted: Nov 24, 2020 / 04:25 AM EST

Updated: Nov 24, 2020 / 04:25 AM EST

(WLNS) – Every year the Oxford English dictionary chooses a word of the year that they think best describes each particular year.

However, 2020 is not a normal year, and the officials at the Oxford English Dictionary know this. In response to everything that’s going on this year, they decided to release a list of words rather than just having one.

They call the list “Words of an Unprecedented year.” As they should, many of the words and phrases directly reference events that happened throughout the year.

Making the list are words like “Bush Fire”, “Impeachment”, “Lockdown” and “Black Lives Matter”.

For comparison, in 2019 the word was “Climate Emergency”, and in 2018 the word was “Toxic”.

If you want to take a look at the full report, you can find the link here.