After months of scandals in sports, politics — and society as a whole — the top buzzword of 2018, announced Monday, struck a strikingly positive tone as the year winds down.
"Sodanē," essentially a shortened form of sō da ne (that's right) that was popularized by Japan's female curling team during the Pyeongchang Olympics and gained them fans on their way to a bronze-medal finish, also took home the award for the year's top buzzword.
After the word won top honors at the 2018 U-Can Shingo Ryukogo Taisho (2018 U-Can New Words and Buzzwords Awards), Japanese linguist Hideho Kindaichi, a member of the selection committee, stressed its organic nature.