Words We're Watching What It Means to Get 'Canceled'Shows over, folks. Time to go home. What to Know Update: These words were added in January 2021. Things get canceled (or cancelled, especially in British English) all the time, for different reasons. That meeting you werent looking forward to attending anyway got canceled because people couldnt coordinate their schedules. A postage stamp gets canceled with a marking from the post office to show that it has been used and shouldnt be used again. You cancel an order after you change your mind and dont want the item anymore. A TV show gets canceled when it doesnt bring in good ratings. When something is canceled, it goes away. And... goodbye. What Does 'Canceling' Mean Today?But in the latest use of the word, you can cancel peoplein particular, celebrities, politicians, or anyone who takes up space in the public consciousness.
To cancel someone (usually a celebrity or other well-known figure) means to stop giving support to that person. The act of canceling could entail boycotting an actors movies or no longer reading or promoting a writers works. The reason for cancellation can vary, but it usually is due to the person in question having expressed an objectionable opinion, or having conducted themselves in a way that is unacceptable, so that continuing to patronize that persons work leaves a bitter taste. The Origin of 'Cancel Culture'The idea of cancelingand as some have labeled it, cancel culturehas taken hold in recent years due to conversations prompted by #MeToo and other movements that demand greater accountability from public figures. The term has been credited to black users of Twitter, where it has been used as a hashtag. As troubling information comes to light regarding celebrities who were once popular, such as Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Roseanne Barr, and Louis C.K.so come calls to cancel such figures. The cancellation is akin to a cancelled contract, a severing of the relationship that once linked a performer to their fans. As Jonah Engel Bromwich writes in the New York Times, the word echoes the trend of on-demand subscriptions of content, from which a user can opt out just as easily as they opt in. There is a performative aspect to canceling, one that (it could be argued) paradoxically amplifies that which it seeks to squelch, if only for the moment. To cancel someone publicly often requires broadcasting that act, which then makes the target of ones canceling a subject of attention. The objective behind canceling is often to deny that attention, so that the person loses cultural cachet. Bromwich quotes Lisa Nakamura, a professor in the Department of American Cultures at the University of Michigan, who says, People talk about the attention economy when you deprive someone of your attention, youre depriving them of a livelihood. Words We're Watching talks about words we are increasingly seeing in use but that have not yet met our criteria for entry. Share More Words At Play Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. 29 From the week ending 10/29/2021 Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Feb. 4 From the week ending 2/4/2022 'Everyday' vs. 'Every Day' A simple trick to keep them separate Time Traveler Check out words from the year you were born and more! TRENDING NOW
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