Signs of the
times
The lexicon of 2018 is depressing. But
the buzz words won’t last
I Lead-in.
a)
Think of at least three words that could
describe your year 2018 (this year in your life). Compare your list with other
students’ words and explain your choice of particular words.
b)
Take 2 minutes to write down as many
words as you can associate with year 2018 (this year in the world). Compare your list with other students’ words
and explain your choice of particular words.
c)
What do you know about choosing ‘the
word of the year’? Who chooses such words? Why are they chosen? What
characteristics should a word or phrase have to be chosen the ‘word of the year’?
d)
Think of at least one new word in
English and one word in your mother tongue you would name the ‘word of the year’.
Get ready to explain the meaning of the word and your choice.
II Match the words with their meanings.
Use three words in your sentences.
peculiar; quaint; zeitgeisty; landfill; condition; single-use;
hot; noxious; anxiety; notable; disposable; insult; documentary; nonetheless; poll
1.
nervousness or worry
2.
offensive remark
3.
a type of disease
4.
newly created
5.
attractive because its unusual
6.
characteristic of
7.
TV program that gives facts
8.
designed to be used a limited number of times and then thrown away
9.
designed to be used only once
10.characteristic of a particular period
of history
11.despite what has been said
12.remarkable
13.area where waste and garbage is buried
14.poisonous and harmful
15.a study in which people are asked their
opinions about a subject
III Listen to the recording and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are
some words you don’t need to use.
English; familiar; older; vocabulary; particular;
mobile phone; landslide; conceptually ;edition; referring; plastics; success; landfills;
hot; publisher; choice; lucky; columnist; concept; depressing; correspond; announcement;
dictionary; documentary; oceans; anxieties; selected; noxious; poll; quaint; fear;
condition; particle; selection; Anglophone; succeed
Cambridge
1)_______ recently 2)_______ “nomophobia” as its word of
the year, via a 3)_______ of
readers. Those 4)_______ enough not
to have heard of this 5)_______ are
nonetheless probably 6)_______ with
its symptoms: it refers to the 7)_______
of not having your 8)___ ____. The 9)_______ seems almost 10)_______;
the 11)_______ is neither peculiar
to 2018 (it is years 12)_______ than
that) nor especially 13)_______.
Your 14)_______ had never heard of the term before the 15)_______.
But
it says a lot that the 16)_______ is
one of the least 17)_______ made for
2018, another year in which the most notable new or newly zeitgeisty 18)_______ words 19)_______ to a wave of insults and 20)_______ in the 21)_______
world. Collins, another dictionary 22)_______,
chose “single-use” as its word of the year, 23)_______ to disposable 24)_______
that make their ways into 25)_______
and seas. Britain in 26)_______ is
newly conscious of such 27)_______ rubbish
after the 28)_______ of “Blue Planet
II”, a BBC 29)_______ series about
the 30)_______.
IV Listen to the recording and mark the sentences as True or False.
1) Cambridge
dictionary selected the word of the year that describes the fear of forgetting
phone numbers.
2) The editors of Cambridge
dictionary selected the word of the year at the special meeting.
3) This word is
widely used in English and came as no surprise.
4) Most words that
became part of the ‘word of the year’ lists refer to unpleasant concepts,
insults, and anxieties.
5) Some choices of the ‘words of the year’ show
that people think about ecology.
6) TV shows can influence the popularity of words
that can be selected as ‘words of the year’.
7) A Hollywood
blockbuster about ocean monsters influences the choice of the ‘word of the year’
for Collins dictionary.
8) In Britain people start to worry more about
artificial fabrics in clothes and their influence of our planet.
From
there things get more poisonous/poisoned/poised
still. Oxford Dictionaries choice/choosing/chose
“toxic” as its emblem for 2018. That word has come to be attached/attachment/attract to many others: toxic masculine/masculinity/muscular, toxic homosociality
(male bonding through awfully/awful/lawfully behaviour), toxic debates/probate/probed over things like
transgender bright/rights/cried. And
Oxford’s shortlist of other contenders/contest/tenderly
was nearly as bleak. It included “gaslighting” (trying to make someone doubt their own memory or even sanity)
and “incel” (self-described “involuntarily celibate” men, an decreased/increasing/increase number of
whom have taken to violence).
A
kind of opposed/opposite/proposed of
“toxic” has also had a big year: fragility/agile/regime,
as in “white fragility”. This refers to the inability (or allegation/alligator/alleged inability) of whites to handle claims/famed/frame of racism perpetrated
against non-whites, so that they panic/sonic/tonic
when the subject is brought up, shutting down discussions about discrimination,
prevail/privilege/privileged and
worse. Coming out of the pandemic/academic/academia
school of “critical race theory”, white fragility has given birth to “male
fragility”, “cis fragility” (on the part of popular/people/populated who are not transgender/transgress/transit), and so on.
Dictionary.com
made an interesting choose/chose/choice
with “misinformation” as its word of the year. Why not “disinformation”? One rapture/editor/editions explained that
disinformation refers/preference/reference
to an intentional effort to spread lies; misinformation is the spreading of false
information with or without that content/intend/intent.
In other words, Russian troll farms engine/engage/enrage
in disinformation; when unwitting Americans share those posts, that’s misinformation – which, in the end, is
the bigger problem. This, too, feels older than 2018, though. “Post-truth” was
Oxford’s pick/prick/peck in 2016.
VI In the previous
passage find
words and expressions that match the definitions. Use ten words or words
combinations in your sentences.
1.
extremely unpleasant and likely to spoil relationship or situation
2.
a person, especially a man, who identifies as being frustrated by a lack
of opportunities to have sex
3.
not have sex during a particular period of their life
4.
to deal with
5.
questionably true
6.
lack of ability to do something
7.
a competitor
8.
the state of having a healthy mind
9.
a limited list of important items or individuals
10.attempting to make (someone) believe
that he or she is going insane
11.racial prejudice
12.extremely bad
13.something that represents an idea
14.an organization whose members try to
create conflict online by posting provocative comments
15.relating to a person whose gender
identity is the same as the sex the person had at birth
16.relating to a situation in which people
are influenced not by facts but by their emotions or by beliefs
17.the quality of being easily broken or
destroyed
18.extremely simple
19.treating a person or people
differently, especially in a worse way than other people because of their skin
colour, sex, age, etc.
20.without knowing
VII Listen to the recording and answer the questions.
1)
What
word did Oxford Dictionaries choose as the emblem of 2018?
2)
What
collocations did the word ‘toxic’ appear in?
3)
What
other words were among the contenders to become the word of year 2018? What
concepts do those words name?
4)
Why
was the idea of fragility relevant in 2018? What word combinations with ‘fragility’
were mentioned in the recording?
5)
What
is the role of the concept of race in 2018? What phrases were created in 2018
to describe the attitudes towards discrimination and inequality?
6)
What
is the difference between ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ according to
the recording? Who creates ‘misinformation’? Who spreads false information?
7)
What
was Oxford’s choice of the word in 2016? What does this word mean?
VIII Listen to the recording and fill in the gaps with the missing words.
Several
other 1)______ are yet to name their
2)______ of the year. What else
might they 3)______? Brexit was a
source of many new words or 4)______.
The “backstop” meant to prevent the 5)______
of a hard border in Ireland is a new use for an old word. “Gammon” as a way of 6)______ older red-faced male Brexit 7)______ has the virtue of being 8)______, and the downside of being a 9)______ based on skin colour. “Cakeism”
might be the most 10)______. After
Boris Johnson, one of Brexit’s 11)______,
declared that he was “pro having [cake] and 12)______ eating it”, cakeism has neatly 13)______ up Brexiteers’ refusal to 14)______ trade-offs.
American
15)______ has seen words rapidly 16)______ in their valency after being 17)______ by adherents of one party and
then being 18)______ and flipped by the
other. In 2016 “19)___ ___” meant news that was fake; Donald
Trump 20)______ on that and
distorted it to mean true 21)______ he
didn’t like. Hillary Clinton ill-advisedly 22)______
to “deplorables” among Mr Trump’s supporters during their presidential 23)______; his fans eagerly 24)______ the name. American
conservatives taunt
left-wing youth as “snowflakes”, a name they have in turn reappropriated with 25)______ handles like “Iron
Snowflake”. Those who 26)______ for Remain
in Brexit have done the same with “Remoaner”.
So
if there is any good news in the 27)______
of abuse it is that, like so much 28)______
in circulation today, any word popular enough to sum up the 29)______ of a year will saturate 30)___
___ so quickly that it will soon lose its bite. Or it might be 31)______ appropriated by the very people
it was meant to 32)______ – an old phenomenon,
but now 33)______ at breakneck speed.
Social-media tastemakers prize 34)______,
ironic detachment – and 35)______.
In other words, if you are 36)______
by the vituperations of 2018, be consoled. Most will 37)______ old in 2019, and be history by 2020.
IX Match the words with
their meanings. Use ten words in your sentences.
1.
|
reappropriate
|
a)
|
to take back for one’s own purposes
|
2.
|
red-faced
|
b)
|
a person who complains about or
rejects the outcome of the 2016 EU referendum on the UK's membership of the
European Union
|
3.
|
deplorable
|
c)
|
to turn over quickly
|
4.
|
reimposition
|
d)
|
disadvantage
|
5.
|
novelty
|
e)
|
to comfort someone who is sad
|
6.
|
prize
|
f)
|
the quality of being funny
|
7.
|
console
|
g)
|
to satisfy fully
|
8.
|
detachment
|
h)
|
to think before making a decision
|
9.
|
tastemaker
|
i)
|
large amount of something
|
10.
|
seize
|
j)
|
to take something quickly and hold it
|
11.
|
cakeism
|
k)
|
to value highly
|
12.
|
Remoaner
|
l)
|
a young person who is easily offended
|
13.
|
taunt
|
m)
|
the quality of being new
|
14.
|
coin
|
n)
|
someone who support the UK leaving
the European Union
|
15.
|
consider
|
o)
|
the number of noun phrases with which
a verb combines
|
16.
|
snowflake
|
p)
|
language full of hate
|
17.
|
flip
|
q)
|
follower
|
18.
|
cascade
|
r)
|
one who sets the standards of what is
currently popular
|
19.
|
playfulness
|
s)
|
to say unkind or insulting things
|
20.
|
downside
|
t)
|
the act of establishing something
again
|
21.
|
virtue
|
u)
|
false information spread on the
Internet usually to influence political opinions
|
22.
|
valency
|
v)
|
very unpleasant and shocking
|
23.
|
vituperation
|
w)
|
unkind and disapproving expression
|
24.
|
Brexiteer
|
x)
|
freedom from prejudice
|
25.
|
supporter
|
y)
|
having a bright red face because of
anger
|
26.
|
ill-advisedly
|
z)
|
not in a wise manner
|
27.
|
figurehead
|
aa)
|
a leader with no real power
|
28.
|
adherent
|
bb)
|
a male, middle-aged White, person
with reactionary views who supports Brexit
|
29.
|
Gammon
|
cc)
|
to invent a new word or expression
|
30.
|
sneer
|
dd)
|
a giving up of one thing in return
for another, part of a compromise
|
31.
|
saturate
|
ee)
|
person who supports an idea
|
32.
|
fake news
|
ff)
|
expectation to achieve something
unreal, just because you think that you should have it
|
33.
|
trade-off
|
gg)
|
good quality
|
X Listen to the recording and mark the sentences as True or False.
1.
All
the dictionaries have already chosen their words of the year.
2.
Many
words of the year are connected to Brexit.
3.
The
“backstop” is a new use for an old word.
4.
The
“backstop” means fall in support for Brexit.
5.
“Gammon”
as a way of praising young politicians who don’t supporter Brexit.
6.
“Gammon”
is an example of creative use of language, but it is a sneer based on skin
colour.
7.
“Cakeism”
is a word that was coined after a politician said that Brexit was ‘a piece of
cake’.
8.
Boris
Johnson is the British Prime Minister.
9.
Some
Brexiteers refuse to face trade-offs.
10.In American politics
only Republicans coin new words.
11.Words can have a
new meaning when members of a different party use it.
12.Donald Trump invented
the term “fake news” in 2018.
13.Trump calls the
true news he didn’t read “fake news”.
14.Hillary Clinton referred
to “deplorables” among her supporters.
15.American
conservatives call their middle-aged supporters “snowflakes”.
16.People who voted
for Leave the EU are called “Remoaners”.
17.Users of social
media appreciate novel and ironic use of language.
18.Most popular
words of 2018 might be history by 2020.
A)
List
all the words that the recording mentioned among the words of the year. Explain
each of the words. Find examples of these words used in the sentences, for
example, in online newspapers or magazine articles. Copy these sentences and
explain their meaning in your own words.
B)
One
of the words was based on the idiom ‘have your cake and eat it (too)’.
How would you explain the meaning of this idiom?
C)
Look
at the list of new words from part A of this task. What word formation patterns
and mechanisms were used in their formation? Remember the ways used to form
neologisms. (Possible mechanisms can include: derivation; back formation;
compounding; conversion; borrowing, etc.). Explain word formation pattern for
every word or phrase from the list of new words in part A of this task.
D)
Find the information about the word of the
year in your native language. Who chooses such words? What was the word of the
year 2018 in your native language?
