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KUALA LUMPUR, December 24 – The Collins Dictionary has declared “lockdown” as the word of the year due to its sharp increase in usage during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a BBC report, the word was selected by the dictionary because it had become synonymous with the experience of billions of people around the world when governments took restrictive measures to curb the virus.
Lexicographers (people who work at dictionaries) recorded more than 250,000 uses of the word “lock” in 2020, representing a massive increase from just 4,000 last year.
In case you are morbidly curious, the dictionary defined confinement as “the imposition of strict restrictions on travel, social interaction and access to public spaces.”
The BBC report goes on to say that the word came into common use when governments around the world implemented strict measures to stop the transmission of Covid-19.
Helen Newstead, Collins’ language content consultant, said the locks h
it has affected the way we work, study, shop and socialize.
“With many countries entering a second lockdown, it is not a word of the year to celebrate,” he said, “but it is, perhaps, one that sums up the year for most of the world.”
It’s worth mentioning that there were other pandemic-related terms that made it into the dictionary’s top 10 list for the year. They include “license,” “key worker,” “self-isolation,” and “social distancing,” as well as “coronavirus.”
The word of the year from last year’s Collins Dictionary was “climate strike” and it marked a year in which Greta Thunberg led a global environmental movement.
But what do you think? Does “confinement” really deserve to be the word of the year? What would be your word of the year? – SoyaCincau
