Word of the Year - "Truthiness"

KingSkippus writes "Stephen Colbert calls it 'truth that comes from the gut, not books.' Merriam-Webster calls it their 2006 Word of the Year. The word, first introduced [Windows media] on 'The Word' segment of The Colbert Report, won by a five-to-one margin. In spite of Colbert's ironic dismissal of dictionaries and other reference books, will Colbert's coined word actually be added to those books? With media outlets like CNN and MSNBC covering it, the idea may very well have truthiness."

This proves what is already known.

[PixieDust]

Colbert, Stewart, and a lot of other charismatic, fun, but still strangely accurate, are taking over media. Sure, it's "Fake News" but the vast majority of their stuff is based on fact, much of it is taken out of context, and anyone with half a brain can take the inaccuracies out, and keep the truthiness.

The big names in news MSNBC, CNN, FoxNews, they all know it's true, in fact some of them have a sort of obsession with Colbert and Stewart. They are fun. They are reporting many of the same stories, just not doing it like they're having a root canal done at the same time. And they're not afraid to poke fun at everyone, including themselves. It's very refreshing. THAT is why they have this kind of clout. They are respected.

Oh god. [WARNING: Opinion Inside]

[Anonymous Coward]

In my opinion, Merriam-Webster needs to stick to actual words. But nonetheless, congratulations to Mr. Colbert on using his sarcastic and idiotic (but sometimes funny) show and his position in pop culture to misinform the masses like no government ever could. I hate to be the turd in the liberal punchbowl, but I hate both Stewart and Colbert with a passion for the above reason. They corrupt today's youth by giving them the impression that it's okay to take nothing seriously, even if it's a matter of national security. Oh, the things people will do to make a buck. But nonetheless, it (truthiness) is both an interesting and redundant word (Instinct works fine, and it's shorter.) :/ I've never come across it in my daily life, short of when I decide to tune in to their God-awful liberal lovefests. P.S. Let's petition Merriam-Webster to add more words. I can't seem to find "burninate" or "pwn" in their dictionary. P.P.S. I'm posting anonymously simply because people with differing opinions seem to be a rare and hunted-to-extinction breed nowadays.

Truthiness already made it to Wikipedia

[Eideewt]

About a week ago the tag for articles suspected to be hoaxes read, "The truthiness of this article has been questioned." I would have brought it up, but I couldn't figure out where to do so. It's since been fixed.

I preferred the word from Firefly

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

"I'm feeling truthsome": Malcolm Reynolds to Inara.

The demise of English in the US

[Lord_Scrumptious]

I'm not American, but this story reinforces an impression of Americans that I have not been able to shake off. Namely, that there is absolutely no love of the English language among the majority of it's native speakers.

Language is always changing and dynamic, but Americans coin new words simply because they can't be bothered to pick up a dictionary and find a suitable one that already exists. American's love to think they are direct and to the point in the way they communicate (and they are in many ways), but they are also masters of obfuscation. Who else has given us words like collateral damage and downsizing? Call a spade a spade if you ask me, these are dishonest words designed to mitigate the more direct meaning of other perfectly suitable words. A commercial is a commercial but it doesn't sound quite so bad if you can call it an infomercial does it?

When it comes to coining new words and phrases, the technology sector is the worst culprit. The list is endless (and ugly): blogs, blogging, blogosphere, podcast, plogs, folksonomy, captology, thin-slicing. Yes, there's something to be said for words that form a professional vocabulary as part of a profession, but this certainly isn't it.

Are these words conjured up in the spirit of genuine invention or discovery? Or are they created more in the hope (expectation?) that they'll have a better chance of stimulating discussion if they appear to convey something new and original (even when they don't)?

Re:This proves what is already known.

[Tom]

I get a large majority of my news from Stewart, The Onion, and Colbert. Mostly because it's better written and better delivered than the other news sources. If "real" news could write as clearly, intelligently, and insightfully as these sources I might pay attention to it.

Mod parent up. :-)

I get almost all my news from (german site) Schandmännchen [schandmaennchen.de] - a german satire news site that is very well written and brings you the ugly truth. When everyone knows that our politicians are just trying to pretend they are important and can do things, Schandmännchen writes it. One of their favoured comment about politicians is "quick, make something illegal!".

I find myself as well if not better informed about what's going on than my friends. Funny. Or, as the site once wrote "some days we wonder why we're doing satire at all" (reality is stranger sometimes)

Not a new word

[verloren]

Truthiness dates from 1824 or earlier:

OED: "1824 J. J. GURNEY in Braithwaite Mem. (1854) I. 242 Everyone who knows her is aware of her truthiness."

(http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archiv es/002586.html)

Not that Colbert and his writers don't deserve credit for this excellent word - I was one of the 5 to 1 who voted for it.

Re:'truth that comes from the gut, not books.'

[roystgnr]

'truth that comes from the gut, not books.' We've already got a word for that -- it's called instinct.

Instinct and truthiness are not quite the same. Instinct refers to general inborn behaviors and motivations; truthiness applies to specific propositions and can be learned. They're often related, though. "When in danger rally behind the alpha male" and "I should trust what my parents teach me" are instinct; "Bush did a great job after 9/11" and "I know the Church is true" are truthiness.

And it's often not related to genuine truth at all.

Are you sure? How could Stephen Colbert steer me wrong?! But now that I think about it, I once heard a rumor that Colbert wasn't even a right winger; could you check up on that one for me too?

Dare to be True?

[PeterAitch]

Absolute communicable truth (not to be confused with recitation of facts) is an ideal, and as such unattainable (check the philosophy section of your bookstore). Of course, the very (re)emergence of "truthiness" suggests that in some cultures/contexts this is a really useful loophole which allows an alternative gut-level relationship to be utilised (rather conveniently) for good or ill. In the old days, when it was "on-side", this was referred to as wisdom; now it's more likely to be spin.

My favourite candidate for word of the year would be "moasting" - a combination of moaning and boasting which is all the rage at social events or workplace interactions here in the UK. Alas, as a new portmanteau word, it hasn't made it into the dictionary yet.

Re:Grammar Nazi Alert!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

You're trying to fight truthiness with facts.

You will lose.

Facts are a strategic blunder in a truthiness argument.

If you really understand truthiness, then you'll realize, for example, that it would be futile to offer me facts to the contrary if I think the "Gap Band" was so named because one of the founders took a degree in physics [wikipedia.org]. I mean, it can't be a coincidence.

It just *feels* right, and that's what's important.

Oh, I can still say I'm open minded and might be swayed by the facts, but in the end, I can always say I have my opinion and you have yours, and who's to say who is right? As long as I know I am right, and my opinion gets equal time in the media, you won't hear me complaining. I'm happy.

Merriam-Webster got played

[khallow]

This is so bizarre. An online poll gets rigged and suddenly it's a news story on slashdot? I wonder who does the marketing for Mr. Colbert. They are good. This is even better than the time he insults Bush [slashdot.org] to his face, getting tremendous recognition and publicity, and it's spun on slashdot as "taking a huge risk". Given the number of Stephen Colbert stories [google.com] that sneak onto slashdot, one wonders if they're part of some monstrous Colbert-benefiting astroturf campaign.