What explains word trends? Words, phrases and concepts that are suddenly all over the media and internet are termed  ‘trending.’  These trending words have been deemed trend-worthy based on how often they appear on the internet and media.  Their frequency is scientifically tracked. Why a word trends is all about their ability to catch the public imagination. Trending words are also called buzzwords.

understanding word trends

In 2013, we first came to use the term ‘polar vortex’ whenever we referred to the arctic conditions of the American winter.  It was a word that US TV stations adopted to describe unusually cold weather. It originated from the explanation that climatologists explained why such firgid weather was happening i.e. massive low pressure systems that pumped frigid cold air into North America.

The website, languagemonitor.com, whose tag line is “We Tell the World What the Web is Thinking,” “analyzes and catalogues the latest trends in word usage and word choices, and their impact on the various aspects of culture, with a particular emphasis upon Global English.” Other websites such as those for the Oxford dictionary, Macmillan’s and Merriam Webster keep abreast of what words are trending and why these particular words trend. As well as word trends there are phrase trends and the word trends also apply to names of personalities or movements that have been prominent in the news. According to Language Monitor,  ‘Time is a flat circle’ from the TV series, ‘True Detective’ was the top trending phrase in 2014.  Top trending names in recent years have  Pope Francis, Kate Middleton.

Then there are top trending tech buzzwords that are in a continual state of change because tech is in a continual state of change.  ‘Cloud’ is certainly a big buzzword in 2104.

Other buzzwords or phrases that peaked recently:  kimchi, emoji, juicing, conscious uncoupling, pop up, redaction, oligarch, jesuischarlie,

What explains word trends? Words, phrases and concepts that are suddenly all over the media and internet are termed  ‘trending.’  These trending words have been deemed trend-worthy based on how often they appear on the internet and media.   Why a word trends is all about their ability to catch the public imagination. Trending words are also called buzzwords. Share your favorite buzzwords of the moment!