Linguists Name “-ussy” the Word of the Year

While Merriam-Webster declared 2022 the twelvemonth of “gaslighting,” hundreds of linguistic scholars from the American Dialect Society voted successful the suffix “-ussy” arsenic their connection of the year.

First, determination was “bussy,” a portmanteau of “boy” and “pussy”. It was added to Urban Dictionary successful 2007, and that introduction claims it’s been astir successful LGBTQ communities since the 90s. In 2022, though, the suffix became communal successful astir each conceivable discourse online.

While determination were immoderate different words and phrases nether information this year, including “quiet quitting” and “Slava Ukraini” — a solidarity slogan — “-ussy” won the immense bulk of votes: much than 4 times the runner-up.

The seat of the American Dialect Society New Words Committee told Rolling Stone,

“[‘-ussy’] snowballed arsenic a playful mode of extending a somewhat taboo conception successful each sorts of unforeseen directions—especially among the LGBTQ+ community, wherever this benignant of racy wordplay is often prized. And past erstwhile it dispersed much wide acknowledgment to TikTok and different societal media, that snowballing continued until it seemed similar immoderate connection could instrumentality the ‘-ussy’ suffix…It’s a large illustration of the limitless imaginable of linguistic innovation.”

From the “frisson of naughtiness” of utilizing this connection to its ties to the LGBTQ community, its equalizing power, and its creativity, supporters had galore reasons for voting for it. As Rolling Stone enactment it,

“Magically granting a vagina to each person, spot and entity is conscionable much amusive than the sinister meme mentation of Joe Biden. Wright likes however it deploys ‘feminized assemblage terminology’ successful a non-pejorative way. ‘Google euphemisms for vagina, I mean, astir of them are not playful,’ she says. In that sense, the emergence of ‘-ussy’ is ‘nearly a miracle.'”

For much connected this story, cheque retired Rolling Stone.

Find much quality and stories of involvement from the publication satellite in Breaking successful Books.