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‘Gaslighting’ Is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year (WSJ)
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Date: November 28th, 2022 3:36 PM Author: amber volcanic crater (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45555067) |
Date: November 28th, 2022 3:39 PM Author: brass native philosopher-king (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45555081) |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 4:49 PM Author: amber volcanic crater Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2022 was so widely used it has been uttered by politicians, TV talking heads and even the bickering contestants of reality dating show “Bachelor in Paradise.”
The word? Gaslighting.
According to Merriam-Webster, the word is defined as “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage.”
It was one of the most searched words every day this year, said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large. There wasn’t any one news event that caused the increase in searches, Mr. Sokolowski said. It’s just that people are hearing it more on TV and seeing it in newspapers and on social media. “It sends them to the dictionary,” he said.
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Subscribe The meaning of gaslighting has evolved over the years, Mr. Sokolowski said. Its original definition, the “psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts,” came from the 1938 play “Gas Light” and the films that came after it. The plot involves a husband who tries to make his wife believe she is going insane by telling her that the gas lights in the house aren’t dimming, even though they are.
Searches for the word on Merriam-Webster’s website were up significantly from the year before, the publisher said. PHOTO: MERRIAM-WEBSTER/ASSOCIATED PRESS Now, it is used “as a fancy way to say lying,” said Mr. Sokolowski. “You’re losing a little bit of the subtlety of that original meaning of the word. But that’s the way language works. People adopt it and the word simply takes its own life.”
Other words that drew high interest this year included Omicron, which saw a spike in searches in January when cases of the Covid-19 variant surged, Merriam-Webster said. Queen consort jumped in September after Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II died and King Charles III’s wife Camilla was given the title.
Popular word games sent people to the dictionary, too. Searches for loamy, which describes a type of soil, surged in August when it was one of the answers for Quordle, a spinoff of the viral Wordle game.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS How have you encountered gaslighting? Join the conversation below.
Mr. Sokolowski said Merriam-Webster chooses its word of the year based on an increase in search from the year before.
The words of the year for the previous two years were both Covid-19 related: pandemic in 2020 and vaccine in 2021.
Write to Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 5:55 PM Author: beady-eyed ticket booth According to Merriam-Webster, the word is defined as “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage.” Its original definition, the “psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts,” i think of the term to define when someone, usually in politics, outright audacious lies when confronted with something or when explaining something that could hurt them politically for examples "mr. trump, why did you say x? i didn't say x. we just watched the video where you said x?!? i didn't say x." "the border is secure" "republicans were for defunding the police" |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 4:51 PM Author: Glittery Friendly Grandma "The meaning of gaslighting has evolved over the years, Mr. Sokolowski said." (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45570382) |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 4:52 PM Author: cyan chest-beating doctorate (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45570390) |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 4:53 PM Author: amber volcanic crater evolved from "an actual manipulation tactic where someone makes someone question their sanity" to "something shrews say every time you say something they don't like." (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45570395) |
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Date: December 2nd, 2022 5:52 PM Author: brass native philosopher-king (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45576185) |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 4:53 PM Author: comical coffee pot Maybe this will help my wife understand that this neologism doesn’t mean “when your husband disagrees with you.” (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45570391) |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 4:53 PM Author: amber volcanic crater this comment is abuse (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45570397) |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 4:53 PM Author: olive razzle bawdyhouse gay wizard well, we've armed 150M white women with the term 'narcissist', which they have evacuated of all meaning by indiscriminate overapplication to every white male in the free world. now they can do the same with 'gaslighting'. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45570392) |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 4:53 PM Author: amber volcanic crater (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45570398) |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 6:02 PM Author: pungent dysfunction I remember listening to an episode of Shane Gillis's podcast where he says that women think they're being gaslit when they're just losing an argument (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5243513&forum_id=2#45570752) |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 6:10 PM Author: amber volcanic crater tcr
if you disagree with them in good faith you are "gaslighting" them. because having a different opinion must mean you are trying to make them feel crazy for thinking differently. |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 6:12 PM Author: gaped salmon sneaky criminal goal in life The Woman Clique is *very* into this word.
One time I joked to my wife that she was gaslighting me and she gave a me lecture about the actual definition and insisted that I was in fact gaslighting her.
I still don’t really know what it means. |
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Date: December 1st, 2022 6:15 PM Author: amber volcanic crater the real definition is essentially tricking someone into thinking they're crazy/untethered from reality/cannot believe their own recollection
basically this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieuy9SZaFrY&ab_channel=SlimTim152
now it has shifted to shrews essentially saying "i don't like that we disagree!!" |