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Psychological manipulation is the hallmark of Gaslighting
When British playwright Patrick Hamilton wrote the play in 1938 gas light (Gaslight, in literal translation), he had no idea how often the title of his work would be used in the 21st century.
MerriamWebster, the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States, has just voted “Gaslighting” Word of the Year.
Searches for the word on the MerriamWebster website increased 1,740% in 2022, according to the company.
Gaslighting is the act or practice of psychological manipulation of a person in which information is distorted or falsified in favor of the person manipulating the other person.
“In this age of misinformation from fake news, conspiracy theories, Twitter trolls and deepfakes gaslighting has become a byword for our time,” MerriamWebster said in a statement Monday.
The word is also often used in connection with abusive relationships.
Interestingly, search interest in the word was not driven by any particular event, an editor at MerriamWebster told the Associated Press.
“It was a frequently searched word every day of the year,” said Peter Sokolowski.
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Scene from the American film “Gaslight” (1944), based on a British play from a few years earlier
Set in Victorian London, Patrick Hamilton’s play revolves around an uppermiddleclass couple whose relationship is built on lies and manipulation.
The main character, Jack Manningham, is trying to convince his wife, Bella, that she is going insane. The English verb gaslighting comes from one of the situations in the play.
Her husband refutes Bella’s observation that the gas lights in the house are dimming he says it’s all just a pipe dream.
The play has been adapted for the screen twice: in Britain in 1940, then in the United States in 1944. or aesthetically significant”.
MerriamWebster says the term primarily refers to psychological manipulation, but its modern usage is being driven by the “great proliferation of channels and technologies to deceive” people, particularly in personal and political contexts.
The company pointed to other words in the English language that were among the most requested this year. See below:
- oligarch (oligarch);
- Omicron (Omicron, coronavirus variant);
- codify (systematize);
- LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual acronym);
- sentient (sentient: being able to experience something and develop certain feelings);
- loamy (something like clay soil, but also slang for attractive people these days);
- Raid (attack, invasion)
- Queen Consort (Queen Consort)