Cambridge picks ‘Nomophobia’ as the word of 2018

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Image result for cambridge picks nomophobiaNomophobia has been named as Cambridge Dictionary’s word of 2018. While the word itself might sound unfamiliar, the phenomenon it describes is one we can all relate to. According to the dictionary, nomophobia means “a fear or worry at the idea of being without your mobile phone or unable to use it”.
Its meaning can be derived by examining the word itself, which is a combination of
“no”, “phobia” and “mo”, in reference to a mobile phone, leading the phrase to mean
“no mobile phone phobia”.
While nomophobia is not a scientific term, it’s one that has become increasingly
popular among researchers in recent years as technology addictions are now more
prevalent than ever before.
It’s sometimes referred to as “smartphone separation anxiety”, though it rarely has
anything to do with a fear of not being able to make phone calls or send text
messages.
Cambridge Dictionary revealed that nomophobia had been selected as “the
people’s word of 2018” in a public vote that called on its blog readers and social
media followers to choose from a shortlist of four words they thought best summed
up the year.
Just as nomophobia reflects the anxieties of the times, so do the other three words
on the shortlist.
For example, ecocide, which is the noun describing “the destruction of the natural
environment of an area, or very great damage”, feels apt given the increasing
concerns about deforestation in the UK and around the world.
Also on the shortlist is noplatforming, which refers to “the practise of refusing
someone an opportunity to make their ideas or beliefs heard publicly because you
think these beliefs are dangerous or unacceptable”.
Gender gap was also on the dictionary’s shortlist, referencing “a difference between
the way men and women are treated in society, or between what men and women
do and achieve”.
Although, given everything that’s happened this year with regards to the pay gap
and other measures of inequality, we doubt this is a phrase whose use will die out in
2019.

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