Well, according to the Global Language Monitor, the word of the year isn't exactly a word; it's the heart emoji. Even the Global Language Monitor admits that it's an "ideograph." Considering this was the first time I've come across the word "ideograph," I would like to nominate "ideograph" as word of the year, but alas, I'm pretty sure it's too late.Over at Wordability, the argument is made that the heart emoji qualifies as a word because it is "a discrete unit of meaning, which when used by one person is understood by another."This, of course, opens the door for not only the smiling poop emoji to become a word, but also, say, the gesture of flippin' someone the bird; but my dictionary defines the word "word" pretty much the same way. And as I look down the list of other options—and past winners—I feel better about the choice. Last year the word of the year was "404," and those are numbers, after all.According to the Global Language Monitor's website, the annual word of the year rankings "are based upon actual word usage throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 1.83 billion people. To qualify for these lists, the words, names, and phrases must meet three criteria: 1) found globally, 2) have a minimum of 25,000 citations, and 3) have the requisite 'depth' and 'breadth' of usage. Depth is here defined as appearing in various forms of media; breadth that they must appear world-over, not limited to a particular professional or social group or geography."So you can see how it would be slanted toward the lingua franca of the internet, over and above any regional dialect, and whether you're in Bangalore or Kenosha, the heart emoji works just the same. And even though "the" or whatever was almost definitely used more often, the GLM is internet-slanted, using "NarrativeTracker" to analyze "the Internet, blogosphere, the top 275,000 print and electronic global media (not limited to the English-language-based media), as well as new social media sources as they emerge."The runner-up was "hashtag," followed by "vape," then "blood moon," with "nano" rounding out the top five. "Photo bomb" is the irritating sixth word, followed by "caliphate" and then "(white) privilege," both of which seem very 2014 to me, not that I'm rooting for either of those things to win anything.But if you believe the depressing aspects of 2014 are the most salient ones, then take faith, because the top name was "ebola," and the top phrase was "hands up don't shoot."Our tech and our tragedies dominate the language, and as a tech writer, at least it makes sense to me, ideograph or not.
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