‘Gaslighting’ is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2022

https://apnews.com/article/word-of-the-year-2022-80d02a3e0a347e542466571ca9cdb2ef

by geox • 4 years ago

23 14 4 years ago

apnews.com

jfengel• 4 years ago

Huh. Google Trends shows a pretty much constant interest in the word over the last few years:

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&ge...

Perhaps a slight increase, but nothing like 17 times more.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF2• 4 years ago

Lookups for the word on merriam-webster.com increased 1,740% in 2022 over the year before.

Sounds like it's Merriam-Webster counting page loads and similar.

(I kinda want to insist that your graph does show the 17-fold increase and you're just reading it wrong.)

shockeychap2• 4 years ago

"The act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one's own advantage."

This is a very sloppy definition based on how the term "gaslighting" has been recently (ab)used, but it's not the right meaning. Gaslighting refers to the very specific mechanism of deceiving someone into believing that their perception or beliefs are wrong, and thus convincing them that they shouldn't trust their own judgment.

It does NOT refer simply to any notion of misleading or deception, though that's how it's been used in recent years.

giraffe_lady• 4 years ago

I agree that the original meaning is more specific and it's a very useful one. But the role of this dictionary is to describe usage, and as you noted, usage on this one has definitely shifted over the last few years.

I doubt most native speakers who recognize and use this word are aware of the first, original meaning. So they're right to record it this way regardless of how we feel about losing that original sense of it.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/descriptive-vs...

You can disagree with this approach philosophically (but good luck lol), but it's the one this organization has chosen.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF2• 4 years ago

Indeed, this is Merriam-Webster doing what they openly claim to do: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-irregardles...

One reason is that of scale

Gaslighting has been used significantly more commonly in recent years.

Another reason is consistency of intent

Gaslighting is almost exclusively used to mean lying for selfish gain, irregardless of any intended psychological effects on the person being lied to.

They are simply recognizing the cultural significance -- distinct and different from the origin -- of the word.

fknorangesite• 4 years ago

This is a very sloppy definition based on how the term "gaslighting" has been recently (ab)used,

A dictionary definition is a description of how a word is actually used in practice, not a prescription according to some abstract Platonic meaning.

shockeychap2• 4 years ago

It's fair to observe that meanings of words change in practice, and the dictionary is there to document what words "do" mean, not what they "should" mean. However, a dictionary also plays a part in legitimizing new definitions, particularly in the early stages of when a word is being used in new ways. Look up the word "peruse" and you'll find two definitions that are effective opposites. I personally think that a word's meaning serves a purpose of concisely conveying ideas, and when you dilute meanings so that you can shoehorn a term into any space you want, you wind up destroying pieces of language and communication in the process. I don't think that "gaslighting" has been misused long enough to justify having a new definition that effectively cements the new meaning and throws away the ideas it used to convey. My hope is that the use of "gaslighting" to accuse anybody with whom you disagree of malicious intent (which is how it's come to mean any kind of deception) will eventually fade away as people find other terms to try to re-appropriate.

dumpsterdiver• 4 years ago

That doesn't change the fact that the provided definition is sloppy, and significantly deviates from the more nuanced, and long accepted definition. The parent commenter's point is still valid.

bladegash• 4 years ago

Otherwise known as lying. IMO, lying crosses the line to “gaslighting” when the intent is to make the person feel as though their perception is wrong or they’re going crazy.

Think people have gotten a bit silly with their overuse of the term. Most people lie out of self-preservation or as a defense mechanism, not to intentionally harm the other person (although it may still have that effect),

species9606• 4 years ago

Merriam-Webster, 2023: “No it wasn’t, we never said that.”

cheapliquor• 4 years ago

lol

canadianfella• 4 years ago

Gaslighting isn’t a word. It is all in your head.

PopAlongKid• 4 years ago

Probably >95% of the use of "gaslight" that I see in writing is from the "Ask Amy" syndicated advice column (Amy Dickinson). It seems to be one of her favorite terms for describing what she sees as a form of emotional abuse in the scenarios presented to her by correspondents.

Just a few months ago someone asked her specifically what the meaning of "gaslight" was, she replied: "“Gaslighting” refers to one person or entity making another person question their own reality. In the context most often seen here, one partner convinces another that their suspicions of cheating (for instance) are the result of irrational jealousy."

learn-forever• 4 years ago

and with that the euphemism treadmill officially claims another formerly useful word

‘Gaslighting’ is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2022

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