At the end of each
year, dictionaries like to highlight significant new words or phrases that have
entered the English language over the previous 12 months.
The Collins
English Dictionary declared “single-use” its word of the year for 2018, a year
when disposable plastic supermarket bags became a symbol of wasteful
consumerism and environmental harm.
Observant readers
will note that “single-use” is actually two words, but then so was “fake news”,
which was Collins’ word of the year for 2017.
The Oxford
Dictionary’s Word of the Year in 2017 was “youthquake”, which was defined as “a
significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or
influence of young people”.
