The Cambridge dictionary revealed its word of the year for 2022 saying that the choice is influenced by the famous game Wordle. The Cambridge dictionary chose "homer" as the word of the year. The word ''homer'' was searched for nearly 75,000 times during the first week of May 2022 owing to it being an answer in Wordle.
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For the game, the word did not refer to the Greek poet and author Homer but was a reference to an informal American English word for a 'home run' in baseball. Owing to the word, many people had said that they lost their winning streak in the game as they were unfamiliar with the usage of the word and rushed to search it, making it the Cambridge dictionary's highest searched word.
''When homer was the answer for May 5, speakers of American English immediately recognized it as an informal word for a home run in baseball. However, many players outside the US had not heard this word before. Huge numbers of players expressed their frustration and annoyance on social media, but many also turned to the Cambridge Dictionary to find out more,'' the dictionary said in its blog explaining the choice of the word.
{{/usCountry}}''When homer was the answer for May 5, speakers of American English immediately recognized it as an informal word for a home run in baseball. However, many players outside the US had not heard this word before. Huge numbers of players expressed their frustration and annoyance on social media, but many also turned to the Cambridge Dictionary to find out more,'' the dictionary said in its blog explaining the choice of the word.
{{/usCountry}}The word “represented not only the enjoyment that so many of our users have found in being playful with language but also the challenges of learning English in an increasingly connected world,” it said.
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The American spelling of "humor" caused the second-highest spike in 2022, followed by ''caulk'', ''tacit, and ''bayou'', the third, fourth and fifth place respectively, the Cambridge dictionary informed.
Wendalyn Nichols, Cambridge Dictionary publishing manager, said: ''The differences between British and American English are always of interest not just to learners of English but to English speakers globally, and word games are also perennially entertaining. We've seen those two phenomena converge in the public conversations about Wordle, and the way five-letter words have simply taken over the lookups on the Cambridge Dictionary website.''