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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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2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

How we chose 'surreal'

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A Look at Uncommon Onomatopoeia

 

Some imitative words are more surprising than others

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Its vs. It's

 

Some practical guidance, and interesting history, about a common mistake.

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What is a Malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

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Hot Mess

 

Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings

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Further vs. Farther

 

They started as same word, but their meanings have drifted apart over time.

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When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

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