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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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How to Read a French Menu

 

How to 'amuse-bouche' without begging pardon for your French

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How to Remember the Spelling of 'Definitely'

 

A definitive answer.

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A Look at Uncommon Onomatopoeia

 

Some imitative words are more surprising than others

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Drive Safe: In Praise of Flat Adverbs

 

You don't have to end all your adverbs in -ly to talk right.

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Hot Mess

 

Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings

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The Schwa

 

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

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