Wyn Drabble: My weasel word of the year is ...

Wyn Drabble is disappointed that editors at Oxford English Dictionary have chosen 'worm' for their 2021 word of the year. Photo / NZME

OPINION:

My choice of the year's top weasel word is ... no, wait, I need to build up to this. Rising tension is needed.

My idea of a weasel word is one which doesn't really do the job intended. It is weak, banal, humdrum, corny, everyday, lacklustre or hackneyed.

I suppose "good" is a common enough example. The word suggests the user approves of whatever is being described but communicates very little specific information about it. "Nice" is another.

In the phrase department, "I think..." suggests uncertainty and "My guess is..." sounds a little tentative. Definitely sitting on the fence is "Yeah, nah".

Corporate weasel words and management jargon are slightly different; they employ pompous puffery to make something seem grander than it is. Here is puffery in its prime: "Our project facilitation must have an aggressive timeline because that is the key tool to achieving excellence going forward." Why couldn't they work "leverage" into that one?

From Queensland Studies Authority: "People construct deep understandings about particular phenomena, as well as broad transference and applications of knowledge from one aspect of their lives to other aspects. This holism and synergy contributes to learning coherence and learning rigour and is a continuous activity throughout life."

Pardon?

My criterion is not puffery but weakness. My weasel word of the year is one which is oft-heard in the media when someone is asked for a reaction to a generally tragic or shocking event. I should add that it's not so much the word itself but the inappropriate ways it is used.

So, a leading detective might be asked what he thinks about this kidnapping of a child, that senseless murder of an innocent victim or this physical abuse suffered by a frail and elderly person. His or her response might be that he/she finds it ... and here comes the weasel word at last ... "disappointing".

The fact that two people are at large after escaping MIQ is far from disappointing. It's very frightening, it's worrying.

The fact that people have gatherings while Covid restrictions are in place is not disappointing. It's scandalous. It's unacceptable.

Wyn Drabble

The fact that wheel-spinning hoons congregate and disturb a neighbourhood is not disappointing. It's totally anti-social and irresponsible. Outrageous even.

Disappointing is when your souffle flops or you don't win the Christmas hamper raffle. I can report from experience that getting second in the egg and spoon race is also disappointing.

Oddly enough, the editors at Oxford English Dictionary have chosen what I consider to be a woefully weak word for their 2021 word of the year. No, it's not "disappointing". It's ... sorry ... "worm".

This is not an attempt at humour. This is the truth.

You would think that during a pandemic there were far stronger contenders: "self-isolate", "anti-vaxxer", "quarantine", "bubble" or "virus" might have been considered. "Jab" even! "Climate change" could also have been a contender (well, for phrase of the year).

But no. After spending months culling a list of thousands of English words, the selection committee chose "worm". I call that a very disappointing choice!

I've tried but I can derive very little satisfaction from the word "worm". I've nothing against the slimy, slithery little creatures and certainly appreciate their fine work in our compost and our soil. But, as a word, it's disappointing. It lacks spine.

Even "annelidae" (the phylum worms belong to) is a more interesting word. "Arthropod" is not bad either but, it doesn't apply to worms because they lack articulated feet, a requirement of arthropodness (I made up that word). Even "articulated feet" is a reasonably interesting phrase.

I know not how the OED editors will worm their way out of embarrassment over this. It's very disappointing.

• Wyn Drabble is a teacher of English, a writer, musician and public speaker.