Word of the Year

… with a little color thrown in!

Every year, Merriam-Webster (as in the dictionary) picks a new word that has hit pop culture stride. It’s not a brand new word to the english language, but rather a word that has taken on new or expanded meaning.

This year the organization picked “They.”

Here’s a quote from Time Magazine:

“The singular ‘they’ is a pronoun used to refer to a person whose gender identity is nonbinary,

a word that itself was added to the Merriam-Webster.com dictionary in September of this year.

The gender neutral pronoun is used in place of ‘he or she.’”

In my opinion, great choice by M-W, signaling not only the total inclusivity that we should aim for as a society but also the individuality that we should all be able to be and express.

Yup. Thank you.

Now to add a little color…

Pantone every year picks its color of the year. Not word, but color. And this year the organization picked “Classic Blue.”

From CNN, here’s a quote:"

“…a shade reminiscent of the sky at dusk.

‘It's a color that anticipates what's going to happen next,’ said Laurie Pressman, the vice president of the Pantone Color Institute.

‘What's the future going to bring as we move into the evening hours?’”

As we look into starting a new decade, this makes sense. Pantone picked a similar color in 1999 for similar reasons.

Many commented on the simpleness of the selection and Pantone noted that the color choice partly reflects the need for safety and security in a troubled and uncertain world.

Yup. Thank you.

What do you think? What’s your experience? JIM