a known person, particularly as a non-binary identifier) 2016: gaslight (psychologically manipulate a person into questioning their own sanity) 2017: die by suicide (a variant of "to commit suicide" that does not suggest a criminal act) 2018: Voldemorting (avoiding mention of unpleasant person or topic by using a replacement term à la Lord Voldemort) 2019: ok boomer (retort to someone older expressing out-of-touch or condescending views) 2020: Before Times (the time before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic) 2021: hard pants (pants that lack an elastic waistband or stretchy fabric) 2022: quiet quitting (doing no more than the minimum required for a job) Most creative 2008: recombobulation area: an area at General Mitchell International Airport in which passengers that have passed through security screening can get their clothes and belongings back in order. 2009: Dracula sneeze: covering one's mouth with the crook of one's elbow when sneezing, seen as similar to popular portrayals of the vampire Dracula, in which he hides the lower half of his face with a cape. 2010: prehab: preemptive enrollment in a rehab facility to prevent relapse of an abuse problem. 2011: Mellencamp: a woman who has aged out of being a "cougar", named after John Cougar Mellencamp. 2012: gate lice: airline passengers who crowd around a gate, waiting to board. 2013: catfish: to misrepresent oneself online, especially as part of a romantic deception. 2014: columbusing: cultural appropriation, especially the act of a white person claiming to discover things already known to minority cultures. 2015: ammosexual: someone who loves firearms in a fetishistic manner. 2016: laissez-fairydust: magical effect brought upon by laissez-faire economics. 2018: white-caller crime (phenomenon of white people calling police on black people for doing mundane things, e.g. driving while black, running while black, shopping while black) 2019: nobody: (phrasal template mocking someone providing an unsolicited opinion) 2021: Fauci ouchie (rhyming phrase for a COVID-19 vaccine, in honor of Dr. Anthony Fauci) 2022: -ussy (suffix derived from pussy) Most unnecessary 2008: moofing (a PR firm-created term for working on the go with a laptop and cell phone) 2009: sea kittens (attempted rebranding of fish by PETA) 2010: refudiate (blend word of refute and repudiate used by Sarah Palin on Twitter) 2011: bi-winning (term used by Charlie Sheen to describe himself pridefully, dismissing accusations of being bipolar) 2012: legitimate rape (type of rape that Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin claimed rarely results in pregnancy) 2013: