Every year, Webster takes it upon itself to come up with a Word of the Year, utilizing some mysterious alchemy that sets one word apart from the pack. This year, they selected a word based on its “significant increases in lookups this year over last on Merriam-Webster.com” and “spikes of concentrated interest.” And that word is, drumroll …culture.
[DJ Record scratch.]Culture? Like, mankind’s oldest sign of collective identity? Something that both predated and will outlast the wheel? That culture? Did it have a particularly good year that only the people of Merriam-Webster know about? Where did this alleged “spike of concentrated interest” come from? So many questions, but we don’t get to choose the word of the year (The runner-up is “nostalgia” which also seems just about as old as time itself, but at least it’s entered sort of a boom season, so that makes a little more sense). Congratulations, culture. Here’s hoping for big things from you in 2015 …
