As with each year, 2022 threw up several new words as our rich language evolved to reflect our ever-changing world. A difficult year with Covid still making an impact, the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, the struggling NHS and various strikes, many of the prominent words from last year have a distinctly negative vibe.

Permacrisis popped up early on in 2022, as we jumped from one difficult situation to the next, with seemingly little being resolved. With these struggles it is easy to see how many of us entered “goblin mode” – a slang term depicting behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy or greedy – which eventually went on to be christened the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year.

Merriam Webster highlighted “gaslighting” as one of the dominant words of 2022. Defined as “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage”, 2022 saw a 1740% increase of people looking up the term. The word comes from a 1928 play, the plot of which involves a man attempting to make his wife believe that she is going insane. In recent years the term has been more broadly applied to modern forms of deception and manipulation such as fake news, deepfake and artificial intelligence.

Here, I reflect on the last 12 months and some of the words that have infiltrated my life, including words that are new to me and words that I recently discovered the etymology of. 

January – Scurryfunge

Mentioned in a previous blog post, scurryfunge is one of my new favourite words, highlighted to me via the works of Lexicographer Susie Dent. This verb is from Old English and describes the hasty tidying of the home when company is on their way – the term crossed my mind repeatedly in the lead up to Christmas as friends and family nipped over at short notice. Now that we are settling back into our usual routines, scurryfunge can hopefully take a break, as the cupboard under the stairs adjusts to its new, strained capacity.

February – Freelance

A term that I am familiar with, but one that I have only recently discovered the etymological origins of. When freelance first came into English in the early 1800s, it was used to refer to a medieval mercenary who would fight for whichever nation or person paid them the most. Although debated in recent years, one early written evidence for ‘freelance’ comes from Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, in which a lord refers to his paid army of ‘free lances’.

As the services of free lances declined, the word lived on and gained a much broader meaning, being applied to politicians with no political affiliation. The term, as we use it today, came to have its meaning around 90 years ago.

Suddenly, a word that we are so familiar with seems much more exciting!

March – Crepuscular

This lovely word comes from the Latin for “twilight” (crepusculum) and is a term mostly applied to animals that are active primarily at dawn and dusk. With many predators most active at the peak hours of daylight and darkness, animals that would be their prey are active during twilight hours when predators are already tired from a night of hunting or are just waking up.

Meanwhile, crepuscular rays are sunbeams that originate when the sun is just below the horizon, during the twilight period.

April – Peripersonal space

We all know about personal space, but what is peripersonal space? A term I discovered through a podcast, peripersonal space describes the area surrounding the body where we can reach or be reached by external entities, including objects or other people. It plays a fundamental part of our everyday life, allowing us to move through space, interact with others and avoid potential collisions and incoming threats. 

Interestingly, this space expands as dictated by our activities – for example, if we were to wear a large hat or be holding a tool, our peripersonal space would expand to cover these new ‘extensions’ to our bodies.

I found this fascinating and a great insight into how our brains work for us in ways that we rarely consider. There is a great article about peripersonal space here.

May – Poonami

Babies, by their very nature, are messy. I appreciate that some of this comes out of a certain end. However, comparing these movements to a tsunami just makes me flinch. I appreciate that parenting is a very tough job and not for the faint hearted, but I for one would rather poonami wasn’t so strongly pushed through (eww) the inescapable Pampers ad that we endured last year.

For those that have somehow managed to miss the ad, view it here at your peril!

June – Oubaitori

Oubaitori (pronounced oh-buy-toe-ree) is an ancient Japanese conceptual guide to leading a fulfilling life based on four trees that blossom in spring in Japan: cherry, plum, peach and apricot.

Each flower blooms in its own time, and the meaning behind the idiom is that we all grow and bloom at our own pace. Oubaitori teaches us the incomparable notion of non-comparison – nothing is gained from comparing ourselves to others as everyone blossoms in their own time and in different ways. Do not judge yourself by someone else’s path.

I’d never considered that flowers may have a lesson to teach us about how we live our lives, but I find this concept tranquil and appealing.

July – Sploot

Something that I’d been referring to as “the pancake” for years, the classic pose of an animal laying on its stomach with its hind legs stretched finally got an official term! Usually applied to dogs, although other animals do adopt this pose as well, social media was flooded with sploots!

Adorable and a sure sign of a relaxed pet, it became my mission to take a photo of my cat splooting. Alas, being a cat, her position changed whenever I went to pick my phone up. So, above is the lovely Bronson, courtesy of my dear friend Bianca. A fine sploot indeed!

August – Zoomer

Not a term for a Boomer with a speedboat (yes, this thought did cross my mind), but instead, the latest word to describe a member of Generation Z – those born between 1997 and 2012. This generation is classed as the first to have grown up with access to the internet and portable digital technology from an early age.

I’m always glad that social media wasn’t really around when I was in school as I believe the pressures of it can have a negative impact at a challenging time. However, early research shows that Generation Z teenagers are more concerned than older generations with academic performance and job prospects and are better at delaying gratification than their counterparts from the 1960s despite concerns to the contrary.

I’m sure the Zoomers will go on to do great things – let’s watch this space.

September – Gigglemug

A gigglemug is someone who is perpetually and gratingly cheery. Now, being a happy soul is a wonderful thing and happiness is, of course, something we all strive towards. However, should a gigglemug approach first thing in the morning (especially prior to that first coffee / tea / beverage of choice or food), I can not be held accountable for my actions!  

October – Cake Smash

Now, I very much enjoy cake – both the baking of and the consumption. Thanks to You’ve Been Framed and the like, I’m sure we’ve all seen wedding cakes that end up in the face of the bride or groom as they cut it.

Having pondered this, I did a little digging and found that the use of cake in wedding ceremonies has evolved over the years. In ancient Rome brides were expected to end the wedding festivities by having a barley cake smashed on their heads. This was meant as a reminder of the male dominance in the relationship. Luckily, nowadays there is less smashing of a cake over a bride’s head and more good natured smearing of it across the faces of the newlyweds.

In 2022, I noticed a surge in baby photoshoots with the goal being the destruction of a cake and the creation of cute photos as the baby does what I’m sure many of us have visualised – diving face first into a cake or using our hands as shovels.

What I’d like to know is whether the cake is eaten afterwards? I hope some is salvaged – let’s not be wasting cake. Anyway, with all the cake smashing photos on the socials, I can see this being a popular photography topic for a good while yet.

November – Nepo babies

A term that I was introduced to through the words of Lily Allen, nepo baby refers to the successful child of a celebrity. Quite an easy one to break down in etymological terms with nepo being short for nepotism (giving unfair advantages to your own family if you are in a position of power) and babies being short for…you guessed it.

The explosion of interest in nepo babies started with a tweet in early 2022 from a Canadian named Meriem Derradji about the cast of TV series Euphoria. She wrote: “Wait I just found out that the actress that plays Lexie is a nepotism baby omg her mom is Leslie Mann and her dad is a movie director lol.”

This tweet led to comment from those with famous parents, as well as those without, and debated the opportunities that were or weren’t available to each. Lily Allen suggests that being a child of famous parents can mean that they are starved of attention, love and nurturing as the entertainment business is not “parent friendly”. As we look in, it is hard to argue with this point – after all, we weren’t there with Lily as she grew up.

However, it cannot be ignored that the entertainment industry is built on connections and having a foot in the door via a well-known parent (or indeed aunt, uncle, grandparent etc.) can make all the difference. With this considered, I still think the term is a little harsh. At the end of the day, if the person is truly useless at the profession they are trying to infiltrate, they are unlikely to get too far.

December – Raclette

My final word of the year was introduced to me on New Year’s Eve as I experienced the wonder of raclette for the very first time. This Swiss dish is based on heating cheese on multiple small pans on a specialised grill. Once the cheese is melted, it is scraped off the pan and typically onto boiled potatoes. Think jacket potatoes but with a fondue twist!

I’ve always thought that something magical happens to cheese once it is melted and this experience backs this up perfectly. After seeing in the new year, I made my way home, very full and looking forward to including raclette in my future gatherings!