Year in a Word 2020 From Covid-19 to BlackLivesMatter, here are the Financial Times’s words of the year, suggested by editors and correspondents Year in a word: SpacThis year financiers dodged pesky reporting requirements with a newly popular vehicle Year in a word: QAnonRumours of a cabal of satanic sex traffickers plotting to overthrow the US president shifted from far-right fringes to the mainstream Year in a word: CancelledPublic campaigns against alleged bigotry sparked high-profile resistance Year in a word: SourdoughBreadmaking helped alleviate lockdown boredom and tapped into a desire to limit processed food Year in a word: DoomscrollingStuck at home, we obsessively checked our phones for more bad news Year in a word: Wolf warriorChinese diplomats fight fire with fire to defend their country’s honour against accusations from the west More from this Series Year in a word: * shaped recoveryMarkets proved powerless to resist a relentless barrage of letter shapes to describe how they might bounce back Year in a word: Covid-19The disease that has had such a huge human and economic cost was first publicly named in February Year in a word: ZoomSilicon Valley communication company became a lockdown phenomenon and a verb Year in a word: BlackLivesMatterThe shocking video of George Floyd’s killing confronted Americans with their history of systemic racism Year in a word: R numberEpidemiological jargon has surged exponentially (R>1) in usage this year Year in a word: TechopolyThe tech sector has been on a tear even as the biggest companies are under threat from regulators Year in a word: RecountNo US presidential election in modern memory has been subjected to as many challenges
