Depending on who you ask, the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election either caused a stir in the nation and sent shockwaves around the world, or they were reason to celebrate. So, is it surprising that polarization is this year’s Merriam-Webster word of the year?
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press before to Monday’s announcement, Peter Sokolowski, editor at large at Merriam-Webster, stated that polarization “means division, but it’s a very specific kind of division”. When we are polarized, we are moving more toward the extremes than the middle.
Because of how polarizing the election was, many Americans believed that the other candidate posed an existential threat to the country when they cast their ballots.According to AP VoteCast,a survey of more than 120,000 voters, about 8 in 10 Kamala Harris voters were very or somewhat concerned that Donald Trump s views but not Harris were too extreme, while about 7 in 10 Trump voters felt the same way about Harris but not Trump.
Polarization is defined both scientifically and metaphorically in the Merriam-Webster entry. It most frequently refers to fostering intense conflict between rival groups or factions. Using data that tracks an increase in search and usage, Merriam-Webster, which receives 100 million visitors each month on its website, selects its word of the year.
Spick was genuine last year.This year, a lot of people in the United States are having trouble agreeing on what is true.
FILE – People gather at No Studios to watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, on Sept. 10, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
Associated Press/Morry Gash photo
According to Sokolowski, it has always been crucial to him that the dictionary act as a type of impartial arbiter of meaning for everyone. In a time of alternative facts, fake news, and other information regarding the importance of a word’s cultural meaning, it serves as a sort of safety net for meaning.
It s notable that polarization originated in the early 1800s and not during the Renaissance, as did most words with Latin roots about science, Sokolowski said. He called it a pretty young word, in the scheme of the English language. Polarized is a term that brings intensity to another word, he continued, most frequently used in the U.S. to describe race relations, politics and ideology.
The basic job of the dictionary is to tell the truth about words, the Merriam-Webster editor continued. We ve had dictionaries of English for 420 years and it s only been in the last 20 years or so that we ve actually known which words people look up.
Polarization extends beyond political connotations. It s used to highlight fresh cracks and deep rifts alikein pop culture,tech trends and other industries.
All the scrutiny overTaylor Swift s private jet usage? Polarizing. Beef between rappersKendrick Lamar and Drake? Polarizing. The International Olympic Committee s decision to strip Americangymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medalafter the Paris Games? You guessed it: polarizing.
Even lighthearted memes like those making fun of Australian breakdancer Rachael Raygun Gunn s performance or the proliferation of look-alike contests, or who counts as a nepo baby proved polarizing.
Paradoxically though, people tend to see eye to eye on the word itself. Sokolowski cited its frequent use among people across the political spectrum, including commentators on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.
It s used by both sides, he said, and in a little bit ironic twist to the word, it s something that actually everyone agrees on.
Rounding out Merriam-Webster s top 10 words of 2024:
Demure
TikToker Jools Lebron s 38-second videodescribing her workday makeup routine as verydemure, very mindful lit up the summer with memes. The video has been viewedmore than 50 million times, yielding huge spikes in lookups, Sokolowski said, and prompting many to learn it means reserved or modest.
Fortnight
Taylor Swift ssong Fortnight, featuring rapper Post Malone, undoubtedly spurred many searches forthis word, which means two weeks. Music can still send people to the dictionary, Sokolowski said.
Totality
Thesolar eclipse in Aprilinspired awe and much travel. There are tens of millions of people who live along a narrow stretch from Mexico s Pacific coast to eastern Canada, otherwise known as the path oftotality, where locals and travelers gazed skyward to see the moon fully blot out the sun. Generally, the word refers to a sum or aggregate amount or wholeness.
Resonate
Texts developed by AI have a disproportionate percentage of use of the wordresonate,Sokolowski said. This may be because the word, which means to affect or appeal to someone in a personal or emotional way, can add gravitas to writing. But, paradoxically,artificial intelligencealso betrays itself to be a robot because it s using that word too much.
Allision
Theword was looked up 60 times moreoften than usual when, in March, a ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. When you have one moving object into a fixed object, that s an allision, not a collision. You re showing that one of the two objects struck was not, in fact, in motion, Sokolowski said.
Weird
This summer on the TV news show Morning Joe, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called Republican leadersweird.It may have beenwhat launched his national career,landing him as the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Though it s a word that people typically misspell is it ei or ie ? and search for that reason, its rise in use was notable, Sokolowski said.
Cognitive
Whetherthe wordwas used to raise questions about President Joe Biden s debate performance or Trump s own age, it cropped up often. It refers to conscious intellectual activity such as thinking, reasoning, or remembering.
Pander
Panderwas used widely in political commentary, Sokolowski said. Conservative news outlets accused Kamala Harris of pandering to different groups, especially young voters, Black voters, gun rights supporters. Whereas Walz said Trump s visit to a McDonald s kitchen pandered to hourly wage workers. It means to say, do, or provide what someone such as an audience wants or demands even though it is not good, proper, reasonable, etc.
Democracy
In 2003, Merriam-Webster decided to make democracy its first word of the year. Since then, thewordwhich, of course, means a form of government in which the people elect representatives to make decisions, policies and laws is consistently one of the dictionary s most looked up. There s a poignancy to that, that people are checking up on it, Sokolowski said. Maybe the most hopeful thing that the curiosity of the public shows, is that they re paying attention.
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Associated Press polling editor Amelia Thomson-Deveaux contributed reporting.
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