1 00:00:00.645 --> 00:00:03.393 (mellow music) (mouse clicks) 2 00:00:03.393 --> 00:00:07.050 (keyboard clicking) (mouse clicks) 3 00:00:07.050 --> 00:00:10.490 line:15% Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year is determined by data. 4 00:00:10.490 --> 00:00:13.070 line:15% The word must have been a top lookup at Merriam-Webster.com 5 00:00:13.070 --> 00:00:14.440 in the past 12 months, 6 00:00:14.440 --> 00:00:17.190 and it must have seen a significant increase in lookups 7 00:00:17.190 --> 00:00:18.910 over the previous year. 8 00:00:18.910 --> 00:00:22.020 Our Word of the Year for 2019 is they. 9 00:00:22.020 --> 00:00:23.950 The shifting use of they has been the subject 10 00:00:23.950 --> 00:00:26.720 of increasing study and commentary in recent years, 11 00:00:26.720 --> 00:00:28.900 and especially in the past year. 12 00:00:28.900 --> 00:00:33.100 Lookups for they increased by 313% in 2019. 13 00:00:33.100 --> 00:00:36.770 This curiosity is remarkable for a venerable old pronoun, 14 00:00:36.770 --> 00:00:38.640 and it's a consequence of shifts 15 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:41.030 in the way the word they is used. 16 00:00:41.030 --> 00:00:44.130 English famously lacks a gender-neutral singular pronoun 17 00:00:44.130 --> 00:00:46.450 to correspond neatly with singular pronouns 18 00:00:46.450 --> 00:00:49.440 like everyone, someone, and anyone. 19 00:00:49.440 --> 00:00:50.530 And as a consequence, 20 00:00:50.530 --> 00:00:54.150 they has been used for this purpose for over 600 years. 21 00:00:54.150 --> 00:00:56.180 Much of this use is unremarkable, 22 00:00:56.180 --> 00:00:59.133 line:15% as in: No one has to come if they don't want to. 23 00:01:00.160 --> 00:01:01.350 More recently, though, 24 00:01:01.350 --> 00:01:03.920 they has also been used to refer to one person 25 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.400 whose gender identity is nonbinary, 26 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.320 a use that was prominent in the news in 2019. 27 00:01:09.320 --> 00:01:11.380 line:15% The American Psychological Association 28 00:01:11.380 --> 00:01:13.650 now recommends that singular they 29 00:01:13.650 --> 00:01:16.980 line:15% be preferred in professional writing over he or she 30 00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:19.870 line:15% when the reference is to a person whose gender is unknown 31 00:01:19.870 --> 00:01:22.640 line:15% or to a person who prefers they. 32 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:25.220 It's also increasingly common to see they and them 33 00:01:25.220 --> 00:01:28.220 as a person's preferred pronouns in Twitter bios, 34 00:01:28.220 --> 00:01:31.570 email signatures, and conference name tags. 35 00:01:31.570 --> 00:01:33.270 Merriam-Webster added this sense 36 00:01:33.270 --> 00:01:35.780 in a new definition this past September. 37 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:39.140 Among the words that make up our Top 10 for 2019, 38 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:40.930 several came from words looked up 39 00:01:40.930 --> 00:01:43.170 line:15% because of politics in the news: 40 00:01:43.170 --> 00:01:46.640 quid pro quo, impeach, and exculpate. 41 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:49.390 Egregious was used to describe the failures 42 00:01:49.390 --> 00:01:53.380 of the navigation system of the 737 MAX planes. 43 00:01:53.380 --> 00:01:54.420 Clemency was looked up 44 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:57.900 following the release of a woman imprisoned at 16. 45 00:01:57.900 --> 00:01:58.950 Snitty was looked up 46 00:01:58.950 --> 00:02:01.440 when Attorney General Barr used the word 47 00:02:01.440 --> 00:02:03.970 to describe a letter from Robert Mueller. 48 00:02:03.970 --> 00:02:05.810 Tergiversation is a bookish word 49 00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:07.880 used in a column by George Will. 50 00:02:07.880 --> 00:02:11.030 Crawdad is in the title of a bestseller. 51 00:02:11.030 --> 00:02:13.670 Finally, the definite article the or the 52 00:02:13.670 --> 00:02:16.010 spiked after The Ohio State University 53 00:02:16.010 --> 00:02:19.150 filed a trademark application for its use. 54 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:21.840 People turn to the dictionary for lots of reasons, 55 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.350 and we can be sure of one thing from this evidence: 56 00:02:24.350 --> 00:02:26.185 words matter. 57 00:02:26.185 --> 00:02:28.768 line:15% (mellow music)