Every year, Dictionary.com attempts to come up with a single word “embodying a major theme in the cultural conscienceness during the year”. With events such as the US presidential election and Brexit dominating the news, the 2016 word of the year was announced to be “xenophobia” last week.

Salwa Sidahmed ‘19 found the selection to be accurate, and therefore important to bring to attention.

“I was kind of surprised [learning about it],” Sidahmed said. “But I agree [that it’s a good representation of the year].”

Many events in 2016 piqued user interest in “xenophobia”. The two biggest rises in lookups came on June 24th, the day after the UK voted to leave the European Union, and June 29th, when President Obama used the word to describe Donald Trump.

“I think it really does reflect our usage and our year,”  English teacher Ali Borger-Germann said. “You just see the [surges in lookups], and it really is the word of our year.”

Dictionary.com stated that the selection of “xenophobia” is not to be celebrated. Instead, the objective is for people to reflect upon the word in relation to the year’s events and to think of the word as a problem that needs to be addressed.

“I think it’s a good way to raise awareness,” Sidahmed said. “Obviously more people are talking about it now that it’s become the word of the year.”

However, Borger-Germann feels like the message won’t reach the desired audience.

“The people who are going to appreciate it are people who follow the dictionary, and those people are probably already aware that that’s an accurate representation of our year,” Borger-Germann said. “So it’s kind of preaching to the choir.”

Sidahmed is a Muslim, and has occasionally been on the receiving end of xenophobia. However, she feels that it’s more prevalent towards other groups.

“I maybe have a little bit of [personal] experience,” Sidahmed said. “But I think see it more happening to others, [such as] Mexican people. ”

According to Dictionary.com, this year’s word is “sure to spark discussion”. Borger-Germann appreciates how organizations such as this one are taking a stance on issues affecting society and encouraging change.

“The dictionary has become very activist,” Borger-Germann said. “It’s cool that our ‘guardians of language’ are taking action.”