An annual campaign co-organized by the Chinese National Language Monitoring and Research Center and The Commercial Press on Friday released the 2019 Chinese Character and Word of the Year.
The Chinese character "wen", meaning stability, was named the 2019 Chinese character related to domestic topics, while the phrase "My country and I" was crowned as word of the year related to domestic topics.
"Wen" reflects China's effort to maintain stability in response to a changing world over the past year. The phrase "My country and I” comes from a film and song of the same name, which pays tribute to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Meanwhile, the character "nan", meaning "difficulty", was selected as the 2019 Chinese character related to international topics. The word of the year related to international topics was "trade friction".
The term "climate emergency" was crowned 2019 Word of the Year by the Oxford Dictionary. The dictionary defines the term as "a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it." According to statistics from the Oxford Dictionary, usage of the term has grown rapidly, with a 100-fold increase over the course of 2019. The Cambridge Dictionary also picked an environmental term as their Word of the Year: "upcycling". This means "the activity of making new furniture, objects, etc. out of old or used things or waste material." The number of times "upcycling" has been looked up on the Cambridge Dictionary website has risen by 181 percent since December 2011 when the word was first added. 打破传统性别认知美国：They
美国韦氏词典挑选了“They”作为年度词汇。韦氏词典曾在9月重新定义了这一词汇的含义，表示其可作为单数人称代词，指代那些性别认同非二元人士（即那些性别认同并非简单的“男”或“女”的个人）。根据韦氏词典的数据显示，相较于2018年，“They”在韦氏词典网站的搜索次数激增313%。 Merriam-Webster, the prestigious American dictionary, chose "they" as its 2019 Word of the Year. In September, the dictionary redefined the pronoun as a gender-neutral word, explaining that it can be used to refer to one person whose gender identity is non-binary. Meanwhile, searches for "they" on Merriam-Webster's website were 313 percent higher this year than they were in 2018.聚焦社交网络文化新现象澳大利亚：Cancel culture
Australia's Macquarie Dictionary named "cancel culture" as its Word of the Year for 2019. The term refers to the online phenomenon of boycotting someone who says or does the wrong thing. "Cancel culture" frequently happens on social media, and relevant hashtags such as #canceled and #gettingcancled are popular online. However, some net users have pointed out that "cancel culture" could lead to cyber bullying or violence if used inappropriately. 关注国计民生德国：Respektrente
为了解决日趋严重的老龄化问题，德国政府计划实行基本养老金制度，以保障那些从业多年却退休金菲薄的老年人的生活。在这一政策的背景下，德国语言协会选择了“Respektrente”（“有尊严的养老金”）作为2019年度词汇。 The Society for the German Language has selected the term "respektrente" as the Word of the Year in Germany. The word, meaning "respect pension" in English, characterizes one of the largest social and political discussions of 2019 in the country. The German government plans to introduce a basic pension system for the elderly who currently receive only a small payout despite many years of employment as a means of dealing with the aging population.