2017’s Word of the Year is here – and we’ve never heard of it before

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Last year 'post-truth' reigned supreme as the word of the year, to describe circumstances, usually political, where emotions win over facts and structured reason. 

As 2016 was the year that saw both Brexit and Trump's election, this wasn't an unexpected turn-of-phrase to take the crown. 

And at least we had heard of it before. 

This year, Oxford Dictionary has named 'youthquake' as the word which defined 2017, and if this is your first time hearing that word, welcome to the club. 

The term's definition reads as 'a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people.'

The word was first coined almost 50 years ago in the 1960s by Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. 

 

A post shared by Diana Vreeland (@dvdianavreeland) on

Vreeland used the term to describe the vast changes in music, culture, fashion and societal normalcies in the post-war era.

For Ireland, this year saw many millennials turning out in their droves to promote the repealing of the 8th amendment, so the term seems pretty apt, even if we'd never heard of it before. 

'Amtifa' and 'Broflake' we're also contenders. 

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