Apocalypse, sex doping, gas pipeline and ecocide, among the candidates for word of the year

After two years in which the pandemic has transformed the vocabulary, this 2022 only

on the list of candidates for word of the year presented annually by the Fundación del Español Urgente (FundéuRAE).

Many focus on the war in Ukraine with terms like gas pipeline, inflation

or ukrainian.

And issues such as technology and the environment close the list of the 12 applicants.

In 2022, the trend of choosing a term from the digital world or political or social news is resumed, after two years in which

(2020) and

(2021) were imposed.

The winner will be announced on December 29.

These 12 concepts have been chosen for their special presence in the media and in the social debate during the last twelve months.

In addition, they are of interest from a linguistic point of view, either because of the way in which they have been formed, because of their meaning, or simply because they have generated doubts among the speakers.

This is the tenth time that the FundéuRAE chooses a word of the year.

The previous ones were

(2013),

(2014),

(2015),

(2016),

(2017),

(2018),

(2019),

(2020) and

(2021).

Apocalypse

The threat of a nuclear war or the climate emergency are two of the reasons that have raised the presence of this word in 2022.

From a linguistic point of view, to refer to a conflict that involves extermination or great devastation, the use of apocalypse is preferable instead of armageddon, which is the name of the place where the battle between good and evil, according to the biblical book of Revelation.

cryptocurrency

2022 has been a turbulent year for cryptocurrencies, which accumulate significant falls and have lost much of their value.

The compositional element

has expanded its meaning and, in addition to hidden or covert, it is now applied to those words that have to do with digital transactions that are secured by cryptography.

In this sense, other terms have also been formed, such as crypto-scam, crypto-business...

Diversity

The academic dictionary defines diversity as "variety, dissimilarity, difference."

It is a word that has stood out this last year due to its presence in very different fields (social, cultural, environmental...).

In recent times, it has gained a very important nuance, decisive when it comes to describing society, an institution or an educational program (to give a few examples).

It is present in many of the programs and statements that affect social change.

ecocide

This noun is used to refer to serious damage produced in the ecosystems of a place.

It is formed by the combination of two compositional elements:

, which means vital or ecological environment, and

action of killing, as in assassination or homicide.

Pipeline

As a result of the war in Ukraine, tensions have risen over gas from Russia, on which various countries depend, which has led to intense negotiations.

The term gas pipeline, better than gas pipeline, is the appropriate one to refer to the pipes through which the fuel is transported.

gigafactory

Gigafactories are automobile battery factories that can store one gigawatt hour.

Thus, the Foundation explained in a recommendation that in this neologism the prefix

is not used to express that it is a large factory, but instead refers to gigawatt.

make flu

Variant, health, coronavirus and pandemic were some of the candidates of the last two years.

And the last two winners were

(2020) and

(2021).

Two years later,

is the pandemic-related word found on this list.

This verb, as well as its derivative

, has been used to refer to a new situation in the pandemic, in which the covid requires sentinel surveillance similar to that for the flu.

Inflation

The general rise in prices in practically all countries has focused the attention of the media, governments and, of course, consumers, who have noticed how the shopping basket, the electricity bill and the Fuels have become more expensive in recent months.

The proper spelling of this word is with a single 'ce', not

, and other terms have been derived from it:

Artificial intelligence

It is not a new concept, but it has sounded especially strong in 2022 due to the multitude of applications of this technology: from making illustrations, writing novels or holding conversations to programming codes at the same level as a person.

However, a broad debate has also arisen this year about the ethical implications and the changes that it may entail for some professionals.

The expression artificial intelligence is written with lower case, although its acronym (AI) is written with capital letters.

sex doping

It is an acronym, that is, a word formed by the union of others (in this case, sex and doping).

It is the alternative proposed by the Foundation to the Anglicism

, which is used to refer to sexual activity, normally between several people, which is practiced under the influence of stimulants.

From this voice, other derivatives such as sexdoping or sexdopar have been created.

bump into

Inflation, and especially the increase in gas prices, made different governments consider the option of establishing a cap on prices (or capping them).

The verb to stop (and to stop) is common in the economic field, although its use has spread and has become especially frequent in the language of politicians and the media.

ukrainian

The war in Ukraine has garnered much of the media attention since it began in February.

Eleven months later, the Russian invasion continues and the world is still watching what is happening in the country ruled by Zelenski.

Although the Ukrainian demonym is also valid, the Ukrainian form is established and recommended in academic works.