‘Single-use’ is dictionary’s word of the year for 2018
“Single-use” is the Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2018, its publisher announced today. The term’s definition is “made to be used once only” and refers to “items whose unchecked proliferation are blamed for damaging the environment and affecting the food chain,” Politico reports, citing a press release accompanying the announcement.
The word has seen a four-fold increase in use since 2013, according to the Collins Corpus, a database that tracks how often more than 4.5 billion words are spoken, written and typed.
The European Union is targeting single-use plastics with a law that will introduce measures ranging from awareness campaigns to bans for the most common single-use items, including plastic cutlery, balloons and cigarette filters. The European Council, Parliament and Commission are negotiating on the final text of the Single-Use Plastics Directive, and it’s expected to be decided upon by the end of the year.
“Single-use plastics are not a smart economic or environmental choice,” Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said earlier this year.
“Single-use” wasn’t the only politics-inspired word on Collins’ list of words of the year. “Backstop” and “gammon,” which both have connections to Brexit, are also on the list.