The American Dialect Society officially declared the suffix "-ussy" as the Word of the Year for 2022 in its 33rd annual words-of-the-year vote.
Ben Zimmer, chair of the ADS New Words Committee and language columnist for the Wall Street Journal, presided over the January 6 session attended virtually and in person by two hundred individuals who took part in the deliberations and voting.
Zimmer explained:
“The selection of the suffix -ussy highlights how creativity in new word formation has been embraced online in venues like TikTok,”
“The playful suffix builds off the word p*ssy to generate new slang terms."
"The process has been so productive lately on social media sites and elsewhere that it has been dubbed -ussification.”
ADS announced their decision on social media and in a press release.
\u201cTo read more about "-ussification," check out this @vulture article: https://t.co/MGIwXBnAL2 \nAnd here's a scholarly paper on the phenomenon by @mcdowlinguist: https://t.co/mOwlEXGo32\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
Twitter couldn't help but giggle and add to the -ussifying conversation.
\u201c@astral_seraph @americandialect 2022 got ussified!\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
\u201cYes it\u2019s annoying and yes no I won\u2019t stop and yes it\u2019s on purpose\u201d— Caelan Conrad (@Caelan Conrad) 1673149495
\u201c@americandialect This says a lot about societussy\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
\u201cthe american dialect society has discovered bussy\u201d— astra \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f #SWEETSWEEP (@astra \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f #SWEETSWEEP) 1673136451
\u201c@americandialect thank you ammericussy dialecussy sociussy\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
\u201c@americandialect As someone who is fascinated with how language and especially slang evolves, this is interesting.\n\nAs a sensible human being, well, we had a good run, humanity.\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
\u201c@americandialect This feels like when your parents try to start using your friends lingo\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
How do we incorporate it into our daily lexicon?
\u201c@RLHeppner @americandialect @pixelatedboat It's like seasoning, sprinkle it on the end of your favorite words, preferably in a work/professional setting\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
Is ussification here to stay?
\u201c@americandialect So in 30 years, we went from \u201cnot!\u201d and \u201cinformation superhighway\u201d to \u201c-ussy\u201d\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
\u201c@americandialect even when you try to run away, it finds you\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
It's a divine detour.
\u201c@americandialect Every day we stray farther from God\u2019s lightussy\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
\u201c@CuldeeFell13 @americandialect @phone_dump God Has Abandoned Ussy\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
Even though it was declared word of the year in 2022, it was always with ussy.
\u201c@americandialect I was so far ahead of the curve\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
\u201c@americandialect Claude Debussy started this trend a century ago. Now, I have a question: if he was a girl, would he be called Claudia Depussy?\u201d— American Dialect Society (@American Dialect Society) 1673094099
In LGBTQ+ parlance, the word "bussy" has been used as slang to describe a portion of the male anatomy.
A portmanteau, it combines the word "boy" and a slang term for a woman's genitals.
The term was popularized as a meme after Rocketman Actor Taron Egerton read aloud a number of thirst tweets on Buzzfeed Celeb in 2019.
One of the desirous tweets read:
"Taron Egerton is a White boy that I trust to destroy my bussy.”
Visibly stumped after reading the term, Egerton asked a person off-camera what "bussy" meant and his jaw dropped upon hearing the answer.
Out Rapper Lil Nas X also used the term in a pregnancy-themed video to tease the rollout of his Montero album.
In the short clip, one of two doctors accommodating the "expectant" rapper laying on a stretcher commented the patient's "bussy water" just broke.
The American Dialect Society–which consists of members who are linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, editors, students and independent scholars–explained:
"Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as 'vocabulary item'—not just words but also phrases, compounds, and affixes."
"The items do not have to be brand-new, but they have to be newly prominent or notable in the past year."
"This is not the first time an affix has been named Word of the Year: in 1998, the prefix e- (as in email) was selected."
They clarified the voting process was done in good fun and members:
"do not pretend to be officially inducting words into the English language."
"Instead, they are highlighting that language change is normal, ongoing and entertaining."
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