Words that took over the internet

Five-letter words dominated the internet this year when the New York Times introduced Wordle—a word-puzzle game that was named word of the year by the Cambridge Dictionary. Funny thing, it’s a six-letter word!

Wordle, the online social media and pop culture phenomenon doesn’t always strike a humorous chord with players. The American spelling of the word humor wasn’t funny to the 30,000 who searched it the day humor was a Wordle solution since it’s not how the English spell humour! Homer (as in baseball) triggered 79,000 searches on May 5 because it lacks a universal understanding.

Not every word that gains traction makes it on a year-end list such as the popularity of blanding and touch grass. Blanding is a marketing term that describes how the appearance of most  consumer product brands have traded originality and variety for monotony and conformity. Telling someone to ‘touch grass’ has replaced the popular advice to take a chill pill. We think connecting with nature is always a great way to regroup.

And we love connecting with you, our readers. Thus we would like to close out 2022 with words that are always in style…our wishes for you to have a most wonderful holiday celebration of Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. As we look forward to the New Year, may yours be filled with peace, health and happiness.