Why "Words" is 2021 Word of the Year

It seemed like you could not go anywhere this year without seeing words everywhere. In fact you could not read or hear anything about anything all year without them. There were some things that you could see or feel without them, but really when you think about it you still needed word(s) to describe that you saw or felt them, so they probably were still needed in those instances too. In any event, words were freakin everywhere, and that is why I have designated “words” my word of the year.

The other thing about words that makes it my word of the year is that, this year in particular, you needed to use words to communicate with other human beings and quite possibly yourself as well (depending on your position vis a vis Wittgenstein’s private language argument). Of course you also needed words to do this every other year since the dawn of consciousness/language in mankind, but this year words just felt more special for some reason. Maybe it’s because of Biden or something. Ironically even this very article in which I am proposing that “words” be the word of the year is composed of words. Is that ironic or is there a better word for it? Notice that I only used the word “word” (not “words”) in my follow up question so, even though it would have been sweet to do so, I was not able to replicate the previous sentences example usage of the word “words” as additional support for my argument to make it word of the year. That said, the follow up explanation to the question, and the question itself was composed of words demonstrating once again how important the word “words” was this year. I ask that you join with me in voting for “words” as word of the year in 2021.

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And now yet another <600 word count minimum bonus feature article.

The Top 5 Listicles About Listicles

Selected from the 10 Best Websites Featuring Listicles

1. 15 Listicles I Have Known and Loved

2. All the World’s a Listicle, But Only 10 of Them are Any Good

3. Those Listicles Have Been Known to Kill People — The 5 Best A Christmas Story Listicles

4. Now That’s a Kick in the Listicles — The 8 Greatest Sports Injury Listicles

5. Listicular Cancer — The 4 Most Interesting Health and Medicine Listicles

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And now yet another <600 word count minimum double bonus feature article.

Top 6 Listicle Gimmicks According to Science

According to One Scientist

1. According to science

According to a recent study published in a scientific journal the use of “according to science” in listicle titles has never been higher. The article found that many authors believed the use of the phrase “according to science” would add an air of credibility to their work that would otherwise be totally devoid of even the faintest shred of reliability or trustworthiness. According to a scientist this is terribly misguided and wrong. Instead it only serves to highlight the scientific naivety of the author and woefully misrepresents what science is and can do to the non technical/scientific public.

2. Things

No listicle would be complete if it were not about some “thing”. From the top 20 ‘things’ so and so said to the 5 best ‘things’ such and such learned to the 15 worst ‘things’ in/on (insert mass media/social media platform). Luckily for listicle writers there are an almost endless supply of ‘things’ in the universe about which an insipid and cliche list of attributes can be compiled and shit out in 5–10 minutes. The great irony is that all these listicles that are supposedly about ‘things’ are actually about no’thing’ at all.

3. Numbers as numbers and as words

The newest trend in listicles is the inclusion of at least two numbers in the title. They can be the same two numbers or they can be different, but one of them must be written out as a word (e.g. eight) while the other must be displayed as a digit (e.g. 8). The reasons for this are as dumb as you could possibly imagine and then dumber even then that. Just fuckin stupid. A stupid, lame, weak, gimmick.

4-6. Money, money, money

Numbers 4–6 in the listicle gimmick handbook are all the same thing, money. Did you even wonder how many ways numbered lists of things and the word ‘earn’ or ‘wealth’ could be combined? Me neither, but now I know, it is approaching infinite. The top 3 ways to earn wealth in web publishing are apparently listicles, listicles, and listicles, at least according to science.