Post-truth: Brexit and now Trump… the meaning of the word of the year
"Post-truth" has been named as Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year.
The word saw a major spike in use in the wake of the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's presidential bid.
The adjective describes circumstances, usually political, where emotions win over facts and structured reason.
#PostTruth is #WordOfTheYear … sounds about right
— Leah Jones (@LeahJoanneJones) November 16, 2016
The word soared in use by around 2,000% since last year, the Oxford Dictionary said.
According to the BBC, Oxford Dictionaries' Casper Grathwohl said post-truth could become "one of the defining words of our time".
"Post-truth" is such an awful, misleading, over-polite and inaccurate description of the of the phenomenon it tries to describe, ironically.
— Rupert Myers (@RupertMyers) November 16, 2016
The word is a far cry from the 2015 word of the year, which was the laughing face emoji.
How times have changed.
What a difference a year makes…
Word of the year 2015:
Word of the year 2016: Post-truth— Alexander Britton (@adbritton) November 16, 2016
"Post-truth" beat out words such as "adulting", "Brexiteer" and "woke" to claim the top spot.
Danish word "hygge", was also a front runner, which describes a distinct Danish cosiness and contentment.
Collins Dictionary named "Brexit" as it's word of the year, with "mic drop", "snowflake generation" and "JOMO" (the joy of missing out) making special appearances.
