‘Squeezed Middle’ Voted Word of the Year
We like to think of ourselves as champions of the ‘squeezed middle’ here at Incahoot, so you can imagine our interest when we read that yesterday academics at Oxford University Press will name it as the global Word of the Year (yes, we know that it’s technically two words).
The phrase went up against a host of contenders including ‘Arab spring’, ‘hacktivism’, ‘Occupy’ and ‘phone hacking.’ In these austere times, however, ‘squeezed middle’ was deemed the most relevant. For the uninitiated, the Oxford definition reads: -
“The section of society regarded as particularly affected by inflation, wage freezes, and cuts in public spending during a time of economic difficulty, consisting principally of those people on low or middle incomes.”
Originally coined by Ed Milliband, language experts on both sides of the pond were impressed with the speed at which the expression has taken hold and become commonplace. The shortlist of words was dreary to say the least, occupying common themes of financial distress and protests on an unprecedented scale.
Certainly a sign of the times. We’re big fans of the phrase- after all, it’s all you squeezed middlers out there who are joining together at Incahoot and feeling the benefit of some community clout!
Honest John
