Last month, “bundespraesidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung” was voted Austria’s word of the year [3], which roughly translated means “postponement of the repeat runoff of the presidential election.” Likewise, words tied to politics such as “xenophobia,” Dictionary.com’s word of the year [4]; Oxford Dictionaries’ term for 2016, “post-truth;” [5] and Merriam-Webster’s plea for users to stop looking up the word “fascism” [6] to prevent it from becoming its word of the year (“surreal” was the eventual winner) reflected what was on everyone’s minds last year. What was your word of the year for 2016? Write a short essay where you explore your interactions with that word and its meaning. Look up the word’s etymology for a deeper exploration.