Wordiness

Unlike some languages (notably French, which is governed by L'Académie française), English does not have an official grammar or vocabulary. Since the dominant opinion among Anglophone lexicologists is that there ought not to be an official standard – that language evolves organically and their role is simply to report on the evolution – we aren’t likely to get one. The closest thing we have to an official source is the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which tracks but does not dictate usage. It adds and subtracts words and definitions every year as they come into and fall out of use. It always adds more than it drops, expanding in recent decades by about 2000 words per year, but the publishers never claimed to list all English words, and much scientific terminology is deliberately excluded. Accordingly, there is no definitive number of English words. (One author on the OED website guestimates, “If distinct senses were counted, the total would probably approach three quarters of a million.”) Graeme Diamond, a member of the OED team, explains, “A rule of thumb is that any word can be included [in the OED] which appears five times, in five different printed sources, over a period of five years.”

It is doubtful that any one person has a 750,000 word vocabulary, of course. The average adult English-speaker has an active vocabulary of between 10,000 and 20,000 and a combined active and passive vocabulary of 40,000. A passive vocabulary is the words we recognize when we see them but don’t use ourselves. Shakespeare had an active vocabulary of 31,534 words (that’s how many distinct words appear in his plays – yes, someone counted) but I think we can agree he was a tad more literary than most of us. 10-20,000 still sounds pretty impressive but there is less to the number than meets the ear. According to The Reading Teachers Book of Lists, the 1000 most common words comprise 89% of everyday writing, and we generally write with a larger vocabulary than we use in speech.

Given the state of civil society at present, it is no surprise that 2018’s additions to the dictionary include derogatory terms such “mansplain” and “snowflake.” Snowflake is an old word in its literal sense, of course, but its metaphorical definition is a new addition. Among the added words less intended to irk the hearer (though the things they describe may be irksome) are “deglobalization,” “ransomware,” “nothingburger,” “idiocracy,” and “prepper.” There is by design a lag time between a word being coined and its inclusion (if it ever is included) in the OED. More revealing, therefore, are trending words and expressions whether old or new, which is to say those words with a significant recent rise in use. Fortunately, the OED keeps track of these, too. On the shortlist for the trendiest word for 2018 were the following (a couple of which haven’t as yet jumped the pond):

Cakeism – (primarily UK) a belief one can have two mutually exclusive alternatives at once.

Gammon – (primarily UK) derogatory term for an angry red-faced white man.

Big Dick Energy (BDE) – understated casual confidence.

Orbiting – a step short of “ghosting,” orbiting is abruptly stopping direct communication with someone while still lightly interacting on social media.

Overtourism – the ruination of the desirability of a tourist destination from too many tourists.

Gaslighting – Making someone appear or feel paranoid while truly surreptitiously undermining him or her.

Techlash – a backlash against tech companies for perceived manipulative behavior.

Finally, the winner trending Word of the Year: Toxic. This is another old word, but the trendiness comes from its metaphorical use as in toxic masculinity, toxic relationships, toxic culture, etc.

That "toxic" was the trendiest word of 2018 says much – perhaps too much. Maybe something more hopeful such as “medicinal” will be trendy instead in 2019, though there is always a chance it will be paired with a comeback of “snake oil.”

Aimee Mann – I Know There's A Word