Life & Culture / NewsThe ‘word of the year’ is a word literally no-one ever usesWhat the fuck is a youthquakeShareLink copied ✔️December 15, 2017Life & CultureNewsTextAnna Cafolla ‘Youthquake’, ‘antifa’ and ‘broflake’ are just some of the words that apparently defined 2017 – a 2017 that me, you and about 99.999 per cent of the living population didn’t live in. Oxford Dictionaries announced that ‘youthquake’ was this year’s word of the year, made so to reflect the tumultuous political and social climate, which has seen worldwide protest and unrest. From the youth vote that got behind Jeremy Corbyn, to the young voices in the Black Lives Matter movement and those that came out for DACA – young people changed the world this year. Though really – ‘youthquake’ sounds like a Daily Mail moral panic about teens in Milton Keynes wrecking the local shopping centre. The ACTUAL worst thing that happened today is Milkshake Duck got shortlisted for the Oxford Dictionaries word of the year but lost to “youthquake” https://t.co/GNAat0JH12— Pixelated Ho Ho Hoat (@pixelatedboat) December 15, 2017YOUTHQUAKE pic.twitter.com/OIjdvoC4p5— Robbie Collin (@robbiereviews) December 15, 2017 ‘Youthquake’ was reportedly first coined by Vogue editor Diana Vreeland in 1965, to describe the post-war cultural shift within fashion, music and the arts. Across the last year, its usage has increased four-fold. Oxford Dictionaries' Casper Grathwohl said it was "not an obvious choice". He told the BBC: “In the UK, where it rose to prominence as a descriptor of the impact of the country’s young people on its general election, calls it out as a word on the move,” he said. Horrifyingly, milkshake duck lost out. Broflake, Unicorn (as a verb), Antifa and kompromat (Russian term for material used for blackmail) were also on the list. Last year’s word was ‘post-truth’, following Trump’s presidential win and the Brexit vote. Supposedly radical and political a choice, I can’t believe milkshake duck lost to this. Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MORE9 books to read if you loved Wuthering Heights (the novel, not the film)The fight against the Palestine Action ban isn’t over Reebok Your favourite Reeboks are getting a makeoverWhy is the US government coming for young climate activists?Could singles wrestling be an alternative to dating apps?‘I could have a piece of him come back’: The murky ethics of pet cloningGone Norf: The Manchester collective uplifting Northern creatives‘It’s good for the gods’: Inside Taiwan’s booming temple rave sceneWhy are we still so obsessed with love languages?How Madeline Cash wrote the most hyped novel of 2026From looksmaxxing to mogging: How incel language went mainstreamWinter Olympics 2026: The breakout stars from Milano Cortina Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy