The word “authentic” was the most looked-up in 2023, according to US Dictionary Merriam-Webster, despite the fact that artificial intelligence (AI) has caused many to mistrust the veracity of events.
The esteemed publisher, whose lexicon enjoys particular popularity on the internet, stated that individuals discussing and reading about social media, identity, celebrity culture, artificial intelligence, and identity drove the trend.
This year was Merriam-Webster’s 20th year of selecting the most frequently sought word from its half-million definitions on the internet. Gaslighting, or mental abuse that causes one to doubt oneself, was prevalent in 2022. It was a ‘vaccine,’ when the coronavirus pandemic raged in 2021. Words like “coronation,” “deepfake,” “rizz,” “authentic,” and others helped to define 2023.
Real
The word authentic, which is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2023, describes what we’re thinking, writing, aspiring to, and judging more than ever.
Authentic, a popular search term that has high volume lookups most years, witnessed a significant spike in 2023 due to discussions and stories centered around AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media.
Authenticity can mean several things, such as being “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character” or “not false or imitation,” which is a synonym for real and actual. Authenticity is undoubtedly a desirable characteristic, but it’s also debatable and difficult to describe, which is why many look it up in a dictionary.
Authenticity is closely linked to identity, both national and personal. Words like “cuisine” and “dish,” as well as “self” and “voice,” are often altered by the term. Celebrities who made news in 2023 about finding their “authentic voice” and “authentic self” included singers Lainey Wilson, Sam Smith, and Taylor Swift most notably. Pop cultural superpowers are associated with authenticity, as evidenced by headlines such as “Three Ways To Tap Into Taylor Swift’s Authenticity And Build An Eras-Like Workplace.”
Furthermore, the distinction between “real” and “fake” has grown increasingly hazy due to the development of artificial intelligence and its effects on deepfake videos, actor contracts, academic integrity, and a host of other issues.
Celebrities, social media influencers, and brands all want to be authentic. When Elon Musk stated that users of social media should be more “authentic,” it garnered media attention. The primary goal of apps and platforms such as BeReal is to record “authentic” experiences. The money will follow “wherever people are supposedly being ‘authentic’ on the internet,” according to Rebecca Jennings of Vox, regardless of how much artifice and planning goes into making these films. Ironically, “authenticity” has evolved into a performance as “authentic content creators” are now acknowledged as the benchmark for fostering trust.
Other terms that were particularly noteworthy in the dictionary’s 2023 data were:
When Rizz Rizz was added to the dictionary in September, it quickly became the most searched term online, exemplifying the slang culture of the internet.
When frizz is used as a verb, it usually means “to charm or seduce.” As a noun, it implies “romantic appeal or charm” (as in “a bro who has frizz”). It’s commonly seen as a charismatic play.
Deepfake: “an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said” is one of the technologies that contribute to the search for authenticity.
Deepfake gained a lot of attention in late April and early May after Elon Musk’s attorneys claimed that since he is a well-known figure, some of his public remarks may be deepfakes and he shouldn’t be forced to testify in court. (The judge dismissed this argument.)
Coronation
This word spiked in May, coinciding with the coronation of Charles III, the new British ruler.
Coronation, which is synonymous with crowning, is the literal act of laying a crown on the head of a monarch. As in “the coronation of the league’s MVP,” it can also more figuratively allude to assuming a prominent position or office.
Like many other terms linked to nobility and monarchy, such as noble, royal, monarch, and ritual, coronation is derived from French. The reason these French terms are used is since, after William the Conqueror’s triumph in 1066, the Norman, or French, nobility gave rise to the British nobility. Since the 1300s, the word has been used in English.
Apocalyptic
This year’s events sparked a growing interest in dystopian fiction. The Republican National Committee released a movie in early April that was primarily created with artificial intelligence (AI) graphics. The video depicted what the RNC claims will be the “dystopian future” if Joe Biden is reelected. Amidst weeks of record-breaking heat, environmentalists issued warnings at the 54th Earth Day celebration on April 22nd, urging action to prevent a “dystopian future.” When smoke from wildfires in Canada engulfed the eastern United States in June, resulting in a “dystopian landscape,” that future was called to mind. And there were plenty of gloomy predictions throughout the year that AI would someday supplant or dominate humanity.
Dystopian theory is used to explain both amusing fictitious problems and terrifying real-world ones. Books, movies, and video games all paint a bleak possible future that is representative of the envisioned society or universe that dystopian fiction so frequently conjures up.
EGOT
Winning the four major awards—the Tony, Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy—is one of the rarest honors an entertainer can accomplish. The term “EGOT,” which is composed of the initial letters of each award, is used to describe this achievement. The term “EGOT” was added to our lexicon in 2019 and was originally used in 1984.
When Viola Davis won a Grammy in February for reading her novel aloud on audiobook, on top of the Emmy, Oscar, and Tony awards she had already won, interest in EGOT skyrocketed.
EGOT is not spelled out; instead, it is pronounced like a word, /EE-gaht/. When Viola Davis used EGOT as a verb in her Grammy victory speech and exclaimed, “I just EGOT!” we heard her pronounce it.
Although EGOT isn’t yet included in the lexicon, maybe this usage may gain traction.
X
Many people looked up the definition of this exceptionally flexible letter in the dictionary when Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as X. It serves as a symbol for the act of multiplication, stands for “an unknown quantity,” and can be used for “by” in measures, as in “The room was 10’x15′.” It does more than just symbolize a letter and its sound.
While some letters, like the letter F for “failure” or the letter T for “perfection,” have meaning on their own, the letter X has a mystery all its own. “X reverberates with all kinds of meanings that are intuitive, unconscious, and archetypal,” linguist Marcel Danesi was said to have said.
On July 23, when the rebranding was announced, lookups for X increased by 885%; however, since then, the platform’s worth has drastically decreased.
Collapse
The search for the missing submarine that was meant to visit the Titanic wreck in June garnered international attention. Eventually, the world discovered that Titan had exploded.
Although the word “explode” is often used, “implode” is less common; many were forced to consult a dictionary to comprehend it. Something that implodes explodes inward or is violently compressed; in this example, the compression comes from the tremendous pressure of water two miles below the surface of the ocean. Lookups for the term implosion also skyrocketed.
Additionally, Submersible was a top search result. A tiny underwater vehicle used for deep-sea research is called a submersible.
Replica
Doppelgänger noticed many lookup surges resulting from separate incidents. The phrase was prominently used in the media coverage of two incidents, one in Germany and one in New York, both involving the murder or attempted murder of a person’s lookalike. So did the tale of two minor league baseball players who were proven to be unrelated by a DNA test, despite having similar names, occupations, and physical characteristics (height, complexion, and eyeglasses). Additionally, Naomi Klein’s book Doppelgänger: A Trip Into the Mirror World was released in September.
Doppelgänger can refer to the opposing side of a person’s personality or to a living person who strongly resembles another living person, i.e., a double. A Doppelgänger is a ghostly version of a living person in German folklore. The term was created by combining two terms that signify “double goer.”
Agreement
A surge in searches for covenant—which is described as “a formal, solemn, and binding agreement” or “a written agreement or promise”—was caused by a number of quite diverse stories.
The initial surge in searches for Covenant occurred on March 27, the day of a horrific shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville. The word continued to spread when Guy Ritchie’s film The Covenant, which tells the story of an Afghan interpreter who saves the life of an American soldier during combat, was released in April. Abraham Verghese’s much-awaited new book, The Covenant of Water, debuted on Oprah’s Book Club and quickly became a bestseller in May. The incoming Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is reportedly using an app called Covenant Eyes to track the websites he visits and automatically shares them with an accountability partner—in this case, Johnson’s adolescent son—according to claims that surfaced in early November.
Covenant is used in the Bible, which gives it a religious connotation. It is found in the King James Version of the Bible more than 200 times, primarily in the Old Testament, where it alludes to various promises—sometimes made between humans and other times between people and God. The Ten Commandments are referred to as the covenant in the Book of Exodus.
This year, the indictment has been in the headlines a lot. The legal system is currently considering four separate instances in which former President Donald Trump is accused. On March 30, a grand jury in New York City charged the former president in connection with the hush-money case, resulting in a 9440% increase in his indictment.
The silent c in indict is the product of Renaissance scholars inserting the c from its Latin parent to “correct” the spelling of the French borrowing. The term was spelled indite before they tampered with it.
Component
Lookups spiked in June when the upcoming Pixar film Elemental’s title was announced. The term element, which originally meant “any of the four substances air, water, fire, and earth formerly believed to compose the physical universe,” is used appropriately in this title.
The film’s plot becomes an allegory of prejudice and identity as a result of the anthropomorphized characters that represent the elements of fire, water, earth, and air.
There was a rise in searches for terms related to the attack by Hamas and Israel’s military response, such as “blood libel” and “intifada.”
Deadname
March witnessed a significant spike in lookups for Deadname due to the numerous states considering “Parental Rights” measures. These measures mandate that schools adopt what many proponents of transgender rights refer to as a “deadname,” which is a person’s birth name that they no longer use after transitioning. Although the term “deadname” is not found in legislation, it was used in media reports on the matter.
Source: Nairaland
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