Word of the year defines wider issue plaguing society

After all, the way we communicate is constantly changing and the number of words in the English language is sure to have expanded well beyond the 273,000 included in the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, which was published way back in 1989.

So with hundreds of thousands to choose from, how can we possibly keep ending up with words of the year that are not actually words?

The Australian National Dictionary Centre has declared "Canberra bubble" - a term, not a word - to be 2018's word of the year.

Only once in the past four years has the dictionary centre selected a word of the year that was really a word; "democracy sausage" and "sharing economy" have also taken out the title.

This is a state of affairs best described by Oxford's newly minted word of the year, "toxic".

Dictionaries exist to, as obvious as this might sound, define things. To give them meaning.

But as 2018 draws to a close, we find ourselves living in a world where things increasingly - and dangerously - masquerade as something they're not.

US President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani declared in August that "truth isn't truth", following on from White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway's 2017 assertion that then-press secretary Sean Spicer didn't lie about the size of the crowd at the president's inauguration, but that he presented "alternative facts".

This twisted version of reality, created by the people leading the free world to justify falsehoods, is increasingly accepted around the globe.

But the reality is that lies are not the truth, and two words certainly aren't one.

Australians once prided themselves on calling a spade a spade, but worrying aspects of this new attitude that it is possible to change the very essence of something have increasingly crept into our society.

"Silent sidelines", where spectators are banned from cheering and offering messages of encouragement at children's sporting matches, are becoming more common across the country.

This is apparently supposed to create a more encouraging and supportive environment for the kids.

They'll have to discover that themselves though, without much of a hint, because as a colleague discovered when she went to support her five-year-old nephew at a rugby league match, you'd better not cheer and risk turning sport into something where a group of people work together to achieve a common goal.

When did we stop acknowledging something for what it is?

Did it happen before former ABC chairman Justin Milne, wanting to fire journalist Emma Alberici earlier this year, directed then-managing director Michelle Guthrie to discuss "external career development opportunities" with her?

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

And when you open the dictionary, you should see that it's a duck.

Dictionaries should give us the confidence to see something and say exactly what it is.

So make the word of the year whatever you want, but at least make sure it's a word.