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Words of the Year

2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Editor Peter Sokolowski talks about 'surreal' and the rest of our Word of the Year 2016 selections


How did we choose surreal as our Word of the Year for 2016? Peter Sokolowski explains the data behind our decisions, and what that tells us about what people were thinking this year.

Don't miss our in-depth look at surreal and our gallery of top trending words from 2016.

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play peter_talk_about_word_of_the_year_2016
2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

How we chose 'surreal'

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The History of 'Cynic'

 

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

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Is It 'Hanger' or 'Hangar'?

 

How to remember which is which

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The Schwa

 

The most common vowel sound in English causes many spelling problems.

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When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

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Old-School Grammar

 

Many of today's grammar rules can be traced to the opinions of one 18th century writer.

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'One in the same' or 'One and the same'?

 

Is it all the same anyway?

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