Satire | The Un-word of the Year (part 2): The words we hate

Our vocabulary could do without ‘manifest’ and ‘babe’

It’s that time of the year again when dictionaries around the world try to sum up the year in a word or two.

Oxford English Dictionary has anointed ‘goblin mode’ as the word of the year. The most Googled word of 2022 is Wordle. Merriam-Webster has chosen ‘gaslighting’.

ALSO READ Satire | Word of the Year (part 1): forget ‘goblin mode’ and ‘gaslighting’, here’s some inspiration to make your own list

But instead of adding yet another ‘Word of the Year’ to our already verbose lives what we need is a way to eliminate words that we would rather never see anymore. Call it the Un-word of the Year.

Here’s an ABC to get the party started.

Artisanal. I don’t want to encounter anything ‘artisanal’ anymore especially not on my dinner plate. Also its close cousin ‘bespoke’ needs to be banished unless “you are at your tailor on Saville Row,” says Freddy Birdy, the complete Instagram guide to “nothing in particular”.

Bubble — After two years of COVID-19 lockdowns, the only bubbles I want to see are the ones that come out of a champagne bottle. Also speaking of COVID, RIP ‘New Normal’.