Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year

Commenting on the choice of words, the dictionary team explained that the word vape has gone mainstream with usage doubling in 2014, owing to popularity of e-cigarettes.

There were following runners-up for the title of Word of the Year under version of the Oxford English Dictionary:

normcore means fashion trend, the desire to look maximum ordinary;

bae is endearment for one’s romantic partner;

budtender refers to cannabis dealer;

indyref is an abbreviation of ‘independence referendum’ in reference to the referendum on Scottish independence;

contactless relating to technologies that allow a smart card, mobile phone, etc. to contact wirelessly to an electronic reader;

the word slacktivism is a combination of slack and activism, it was coined to define simulation of civic engagement through participation in actions on political or social issues, but regarded as requiring little time or involvement, for instance, by signing online petitions.

In 2013 the word of the year was selfie, a term for a photograph that one has taken of oneself with a smartphone and uploaded to a social media website.