From our master grammarian and resident logophile Angstrom Dickinson:
The Word of the Year season is now officially over. Last Friday night, the members of the American Dialect Society voted on their choice for the 2016 Word of the Year, and they – the very group that started the trend 27 years ago – ended the WotY season by dubbing “dumpster fire” as Word of the Year (yes, in this case, words). The ADS has multiple categories (Digital Word of the Year, Slang Word of the Year, Euphemism of the Year, etc.), so information about "dumpster fire" and a link to their complete WotY list is HERE.
We finished our own countdown of Words of the Year on New Year’s Eve, and “divided” took the top honor. Our complete list is HERE, and we wrote some background on selecting "divided" for the top honor HERE.
Below is a list of some of the other chosen words for 2016:
We finished our own countdown of Words of the Year on New Year’s Eve, and “divided” took the top honor. Our complete list is HERE, and we wrote some background on selecting "divided" for the top honor HERE.
Below is a list of some of the other chosen words for 2016:
| "Dumpster fire" is not new. It’s been around for a while; its “top definition” on Urban Dictionary dates back to 2008. However, the Word of the Year does not have to be a new word. David Bowie (at least that’s @socilox’s name on Twitter), a sociolinguist and dialectologist at the University of Alaska Anchorage, noted that words often “get in under the ‘not new, but newly (re)emergent’ rubric” – and we suspect everyone would agree that most of 2016 was nothing more than uncontrollable dumpster fire. |  |
 | As a matter of fact, “dumpster fire” took a political turn in 2016 when it morphed into “trumpster fire,” thanks to the trumpster fire that is Donald Trump. Pictured above and left: Urban Dictionary's definitiions for "Dumpster Fire" and "Trumpster Fire." Click the images to enlarge. |
The origins of “dumpster fire” actually date back to the late-1800s when Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request) first used the term in his now classic poem “The Dumpster Fire we've all known" (below on the left). Dickinson wrote the poem about Fredreich Drümpf, a distant relative of Donald Trump. Information about Drümpf is HERE. Dickinson’s poem also inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “The largest Fire ever known" (below on the right).
Of course, we now begin our year-long quest for the 2017 Words of the Year. We are keeping our fingers crossed that there's no reason for "launch ready alert" & "thermonuclear" to make the list!
Of course, we now begin our year-long quest for the 2017 Words of the Year. We are keeping our fingers crossed that there's no reason for "launch ready alert" & "thermonuclear" to make the list!
| By Emmett Lee Dickinson: The dumpster fire we’ve all known Occurred throughout our sphere – And so it came as no surprise It’s now Word of the Year – Logophiles will report to men This honor now attained With hopes some future morning We won’t get burned again. | By Emily Dickinson: The largest Fire ever known Occurs each Afternoon – Discovered is without surprise Proceeds without concern – Consumes and no report to men An Occidental Town, Rebuilt another morning To be again burned down. |
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