It has been surreal in the Trump era to watch dictionaries troll the president on Twitter. Merriam-Webster used its social media accounts to go after “unpresidented” official typos and Orwellian coinages. At year’s end, this lexicographical punditry drew up a list of words of the year.
Traditionally, such lists include fun neologisms, tech terms, or, for Oxford Dictionaries in 2015, an emoji. In 2014, Oxford chose “vape.” Merriam-Webster went for “w00t” in 2007 and simply “science” in 2013. And this year? Dictionary.com picked “misinformation.” Oxford’s was “toxic” (as in masculinity). Merriam-Webster went with “justice.” In case the hoped-for profundity wasn’t obvious enough, its editor-at-large told Time magazine that “justice” also refers to the federal department that employs Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
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