US linguists on Friday chose "they" as their Word of the Decade, recognizing the growing use of third-person plural pronouns as a singular form to refer to people who identify their gender as neither entirely male nor entirely female.
Separately, the American Dialect Society bestowed its Word of the Year honors on the increasingly common practice of introducing oneself in correspondence or socially by the set of pronouns one prefers to be called by - declaring in an email, for example, "pronouns: she/her."
The two awards were decided by some 350 member of the society at its annual meeting of academics, graduate students and word lovers who voted by a show of hands, said Ben Zimmer, a linguist and lexicographer who chairs the group's New Words Committee.
The most popular pick for Word of the Year was "(my) pronouns," a reflection of "how the personal expression of gender identity has become an increasing part of our shared discourse," the society said in a statement announcing the outcome.
The same trend was behind the selection of "they" as the Word of the Decade, recognizing its growing use to refer to a person whose gender identity is non-binary. The singular use of "they" was previously designated as the 2015 Word of the Year.
"People want to choose something that stands the test of time and sums up the decade as a whole," said Zimmer, who writes a language column for the Wall Street Journal.
Social media has turbo-charged the way words or phrases become popular, leading to some recent multi-word champions for Word of the Year, including "tender-age shelter" (a detention facility for young undocumented migrant children separated from their parents) in 2018 and "fake news" in 2017.
Other decade nominees considered on Friday included:
* "#BlackLivesMatter," the hashtag used to protest alleged disparities in police use of force against African Americans.
* "Climate," reflecting increased interest in the impact of climate change.
* "#MeToo," the movement that has highlighted widespread patterns of sexual abuse and harassment that women have faced at the hands of men across many spheres of life, including business, politics and entertainment.
The society, founded in 1889 and dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, started selecting its "Word of the Year" in 1991 and since then has picked only two other "Word of the Decade" winners. Top choices were "web" for the 1990s and "Google" as a verb for the 2000s.
Other "Word of the Year" nominations for 2019 included:
* "OK Boomer," described as a retort to someone older, typically a member of the Baby Boom generation, who expresses views that are out-of-touch or condescending to young people and their concerns.
* "Cancel," meaning to withdraw support from someone or something that is considered problematic or unacceptable, used in the phrase "cancel culture."
* "Karen," the stereotype of a complaining, self-important, demanding white woman, typically a member of Generation X or "Generation Karen."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
First came the “OK Boomer” memes on social media. Then came the T-shirts, phone cases and other merchandise emblazoned with the viral retort. Now, get ready for an all-out war at the US Patent and Trademark Office and a possible television series using the phrase.
On Nov. 11, Fox Media filed a trademark application for a TV show called “OK Boomer,” one among a handful of applicants hoping to secure rights to the phrase hurled by Generation Z and millennials to older people who don’t understand their positions on various issues and anyone issuing condescending remarks. (This month, Chloe Swarbrick, a 25-year-old New Zealand lawmaker, even used it in Parliament to respond to a heckler during a debate on a zero carbon bill.)
At least 5 current trademark applications are pending for the phrase, according to the federal office’s online database. Fox Media said in its application that it wanted to use it for an “ongoing television series featuring reality competition, comedy, and game shows.” A spokeswoman for Fox Media, Alex Gillespie, said Tuesday that the company had no comment about the filing. A spokeswoman for the federal patent office, Julianne Metzger, said Tuesday that the office “does not comment on trademark applications.”
Separate applications filed Oct. 31 (by a man named Kevin Yen) and Nov. 14 (by jewelry company Rust Belt Creations Co.) want to use the phrase on clothing items. Another application, filed Nov. 12 (also by Rust Belt Creations) plans to sell decals and stickers. And an application filed Wednesday (by William Grundfest, a television show producer known for “Mad About You”) plans to use “OK Boomer” for live stage performances and lectures.
The other applicants did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
In light of the phrase’s popularity, it’s not likely that any of the applications will be approved, said Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer and founder of Gerben Law Firm, who noticed the filing by Fox Media on Monday.
“I think they are all very likely to meet the same fate, which is the USPTO will issue what is called a widely used message refusal,” Gerben said in an interview Tuesday, adding that the definition of a trademark “has to identify a single company or individual as a source of a product or service.”
Once something like a meme goes viral and is widely used by people, it cannot legally function as a trademark, he said.
It will typically take the office around four months to deliver a decision on the applications, Gerben said, but a pending application should not stop a company from beginning work.
“There is no requirement under US law to own a trademark registration to make a product under a name,” he said.
It’s unlikely that merchandise sellers will have any issues selling “OK Boomer” gear, he said, but none of them will be able to stop the sale of competing products.
Attempts to trademark popular cultural phrases are not new.
Earlier this year, Cardi B filed an application to trademark the catchphrase “Okurrr” to use on clothing and paper goods. It was denied over the summer, according to CNN.
LeBron James met the same fate when he tried to trademark “Taco Tuesday.” In its rejection in September, the office said the phrase was “a commonplace term, message or expression” that is widely used.
While Gerben said he expected to see other applications to trademark “OK Boomer,” he noted that viral memes are short-lived.
People filing trademarks are typically hoping to hit a gold mine, he said.
“People are only going to want their ‘OK Boomer’ shirts in likelihood for a little while,” he said.
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source: news.abs-cbn.com
