After a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring inside a Washington D.C. restaurant resulted in a North Carolina man taking a gun in to "investigate,Busty Cops on Patrol (2009)" it seemed inevitable that "fake news" would define 2016.
And now it's official, with the word being chosen as Macquarie Dictionary's word of the year. If you don't laugh, you might cry.
SEE ALSO: How Indigenous voices are using social media to #ChangeTheDatePronounced "fayk 'nyoohz" (for those of you who just returned from Mars), the word became notorious after debates about bogus websites publishing false or hyper-partisan news on social media blew up in 2016. America is now learning what it's like to deal with a political administration that routinely spreads fake news itself.
The dictionary defines the plural noun as "disinformation and hoaxes published on websites for political purposes or to drive web traffic, the incorrect information being passed along by social media."
Susan Butler, editor of Australia's Macquarie Dictionary, told Mashablethe committee looks at two main concerns when choosing the word of the year: A clever coinage, something that involves a bit of word play, and also a word that's socially significant.
"In that category, they thought that 'fake news' was the thing that had the most far reaching consequences for us all," she explained. "Having the facts right is the bed rock of news publishing, and suddenly we're in a world where anyone can claim to have the facts."
For those of you that come at the dictionary complaining that "fake news" actually two words, you're wrong. That's fake news, as it were.
Let Butler explain: "The most common way in which English forms new words is by taking two separate words and smashing them together. In the past, this togetherness may have been recognised by a hyphen or one solid word, but more recently, the tendency has been for English to throw out punctuation of all sorts."
This is what linguists call a "lexical unit." You may know what "fake" is and what "news" is, but you can't necessarily work out the meaning of the compound. It's more than the sum of its parts, and that's why it's in the dictionary.
Runner up words included "halal snack pack" -- a word and culinary concept that has yet to make to it big globally.
A mix of hot chips and halal doner kebab meat, along with garlic, chilli and barbecue sauces, a combo affectionally known as "the holy trinity," the word has also become symbolic of a type of cheeky, affectionate multiculturalism.
The halal snack pack combines foods of significance to both Australia's Muslim and Anglo communities, and even caused a minor political altercation between Labor politician Sam Dastyari and right wing Senator Pauline Hanson.
According to Dastyai, halal snack pack was "robbed."
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
"Enby" was another chosen by the committee. A term for someone who doesn't identify as male of female, they wrote that "Enby is an interesting construction; it has moved from the abbreviation NB (for non-binary) to a word in its own right."
Previous:Keeping Education on the Radar
Elon Musk thanks Trump for supporting Tesla factory reopeningElon Musk's Tesla factory drama is mostly resolvedMicrosoft rolls out protection against 'reply all' email stormsAmazon launches faster Fire HD 8 tablets with more storageSpaceX has released a Crew Dragon simulator, so you can endure the terror of space from homePoco F2 Pro: Powerful Samsung Galaxy S20+ rival for less than half the priceSlack's redesigned mobile apps are less likely to make you bang your head against a wallElon Musk's Tesla factory drama is mostly resolvedHBO partners with Scener to create coRazer is deploying free mask vending machines in SingaporeJoe Biden, president of ice cream, is finally getting his own flavorGuy Fieri and Bill Murray are having a nacho cookBritish students create memes to vent about a ridiculous biology exam questionTim Kaine becomes an unlikely cowboy antiSenate gives law enforcement the OK to spy on your internet historyPeople are freaking out about the eyebrow wigs need to know what thisLatest Google Chrome update lets users sort tabs by groups and colorsApple now lists 2013 MacBook Air and 2014 MacBook Pro as 'vintage products'Poco F2 Pro: Powerful Samsung Galaxy S20+ rival for less than half the priceAll the outlandish things Trump said in his commencement speech for the Coast Guard How to watch Apple's iPhone 12 event Chelsea Clinton offers White House appreciation after Trump reportedly calls it a 'dump' 'Totally Under Control' is a perfect doc for undecided voters: Review Little girl rides her pony through a corner store to pick up treats Silver lining: Apple reduces price of EarPods and iPhone power adapter to $19 Apple removes power adapters and headphones from iPhone box The iPhone 12 is cool, but it made the iPhone 11 an even better deal What to expect at Apple’s October iPhone event Amazon's new eco Teen tweets boyfriend's hilariously misspelled message thread, goes viral 'Game of Thrones' star Sophie Turner said her social media followers help her land gigs 9 women leaders on what gender equality means to them We tested just how mini the iPhone 12 Mini really is Apple will reveal HomePod mini for $99, reliable leaker says Facebook bans scores of fake pro Netflix's 2020 Holiday Lineup: Stream festive movies and TV shows DEF CON's vote Apple Store is down, and that means new iPhones are coming Lucid Air reveals price and range for its cheapest EV 5 questions Americans asked Google about the election this week (Oct. 2
1.6838s , 10130.734375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Busty Cops on Patrol (2009)】,Charm Information Network