Hallucination, dana, mud, fatphobia, inquiokupa, mena, micro-floor, narcolancha, pellet, reduflation, touristification and woke. These are, in alphabetical order, the 12 candidates for word of the year, announced this Friday by the Urgent Spanish Foundation (FundéuRAE), promoted by the Royal Spanish Academy and the Efe agency. The winner will be announced on Thursday, December 19. These terms have been chosen for “their special presence in the media during the year and for their linguistic interest,” informs the FundéuRAE in a press release.
Regarding the issues related to these 12 voices, housing stands out, a great concern due to its exorbitant prices; technology, tourism and the environment. Like every year, the words selected “meet two requirements.” “On the one hand, they have appeared frequently in the media and in social debate in the last twelve months. On the other hand, we try to ensure that they have linguistic interest.” This means that “they generate doubts among speakers, that they have acquired a new meaning or that they have been formed in an unusual way.”
The FundéuRAE points out about hallucination that, “although it is not new, both it and hallucinating have expanded their meaning with the development of artificial intelligence.” They are used in the field of technology “to refer to the invention of misinformation by artificial intelligence systems.” “It is an extension of the meaning that these words already had, so it is not necessary to write them in italics or with quotation marks.”
Dana It is probably the great favorite due to the catastrophic flood that occurred in Valencia on October 29 and that also affected Albacete, with 225 deaths (217 in the Valencian Community, seven in Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia). For this reason, “the use in the media has skyrocketed during the last quarter of dana”, which has also just entered the market. Dictionary of the Spanish language in its last update, on December 10. The RAE points out that dana must be written with lowercase letters and that they are the acronym for isolated depression at high levels. “If it is used as an acronym, it will be written entirely in capital letters, but it is already used as a common noun written in lower case: the dana.” This is what happened with the words AIDS and covid, for example.
Mud: One of the great consequences of the damage was the tons of accumulated sludge. “The cleaning work that still continues in many affected places has multiplied the appearances of the term mud in the Spanish media.” However, this noun “has been very present in political and social information with its second meaning: ‘vilification, degradation’, a case in which it does not need quotation marks or italics.” With this, the RAE refers to the term repeatedly used by the Government when they want to criticize some tactics of the political adversary: “The mud machine.”
Fatphobia: The last known person who has suffered insults for her physical appearance has been the next presenter of the New Year’s Eve chimes on TVE 1 along with David Broncano, the actress and comedian Lalachus. “Written in a single word and without a hyphen, it refers to everything related to it, or to those who have this aversion or rejection, it is grammatically valid to use both the adjective fatphobic and fatphobic.”
Inquiokupa: Don’t be alarmed if you haven’t heard it. The Foundation says that “the housing problem has focused the attention of citizens, media and politicians in many countries, which is why the words and expressions related to this issue have been protagonists all year.” Inquiokupa is a neologism “formed from the truncation of tenant, to which the term squatter is added.”
Mena: “The situation of unaccompanied foreign minors who arrive in a new country, a name to which the acronym MENA corresponds, has been another of the most present political debates in various places. Although as an acronym it is written with capital letters, its lexicalization as a common noun written in lower case is well established: a mena, the menas.
Micropiso: We continue with the homes, although micro-apartment may not deserve that name. “This term is formed by the union of the prefix micro- (which means ‘very small’) to the noun floor, with the meaning of ‘set of rooms that constitute independent housing in a house of various heights.’ Remember that it is written in a single word, without a hyphen or space.”
Narcolancha: In this case, the Foundation points out that “the compositional element narco- (which means ‘drug’) appears together with very diverse voices to express its relationship with this type of substances”, as happens in narcodollar, drug trafficking or drug violence. The latest appearance in this sense has been a narco-boat, especially following the murder of two civil guards in the Cadiz town of Barbate, whose boat was hit by a drug trafficker’s motorboat.
Pellet: a foreign word that “is used in multiple contexts.” In fact, it is another word that has entered the Dictionary in its latest update. “This word – which in Spanish could also be adapted as a pellet and, depending on the area, have alternatives such as pellets or granules – was very present in the media due to the large dumping of small plastic balls that occurred on the beaches of Galicia at the beginning. of the year.”
Reduflation: In case you haven’t heard it, the Foundation points out that “the rise in the cost of goods and services in recent months not only translates into higher prices, but sometimes also into a smaller product at the same price.” For this reason, the word reduflation, “an acronym formed from reduction and inflation, has been another of those repeated during 2024.” It is written with a single C (notice for those who write on television).
Touristification: This term, “valid to refer to the impact of tourist overcrowding in certain cities or regions, has filled the front pages of newspapers around the world.” “The increase in tourist housing or the limitation of the arrival of travelers in crowded areas are just two of the aspects that have focused the social debate.” “Tourism” is also used in a similar sense, although it is more common to refer, in a more neutral way, “to the fact of making something touristy.”
And finally, woke: an anglicism that is usually translated as “informal adjective with the meaning of ‘sensitive to injustice’, but in Spanish it is used both positively and negatively in multiple contexts.” “It is written in italics if it is pronounced the same as in English (more or less /wóuk/), but it can be adapted and written in round and without quotes if it is pronounced as it is written, /wóke/.”
On December 19, the winner will be known. The previous ones were escrache (2013), selfie (2014), refugee (2015), populism (2016), aporophobia (2017), microplastic (2018), emojis (2019), confinement (2020), vaccine (2021), intelligence artificial (2022) and polarization (2023).
The main objective of the FundéuRAE is to promote the good use of Spanish in the media. Promoted by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) and the EFE agency, it was created in 2005 as a result of an agreement between EFE and BBVA, with the advice of the RAE.