Word of the Year 2015: 'Binge-watch' beats 'Corbynomics' and 'dadbod'

Lexicographers say usage of the term is up by 200 per cent since 2014

Thursday 05 November 2015 10:58 GMT

Netflix has been credited with the popularity of 'binge-watching'

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Collins English Dictionary has declared ‘binge-watch’ as its Word of the Year, followed by contenders ‘transgender’, ‘Corbynomics’, and ‘dadbod’.

The word echoes the success of subscription streaming services like Netflix. 'Binge-watching' means to "watch a large number of television programmes (especially all the shows from one series) in succession" according to CollinsDictionary.com.

Lexicographers have noted usage of the term is up by 200 per cent since 2014.

A survey by digital video recording company Tivo, cited by Collins, reported in June this year that 92 per cent of viewers watched more than three episodes of a series in one day. 37 per cent spent a whole weekend watching one show.

Head of language content at Collins Helen Newstead said: “The rise in usage of ‘binge-watch’ is clearly linked to the biggest sea change in our viewing habits since the advent of the video recorder nearly 40 years ago.”

“It’s not uncommon for viewers to binge-watch a whole season of programmes such as House of Cards or Breaking Bad in just a couple of evenings – something that, in the past, would have taken months – then discuss their binge-watching on social media,” she said.

Binge-watch is 'Word of 2015'

It takes two or three episodes to get a viewer ‘hooked’ onto a series, according to data revealed by Netflix in September. Series with highly serial plots that continue across many episodes were are more likely to capture viewers quicker than series that are episodic – meaning the plot starts and ends in a single episode.

‘Transgender’ is the runner-up Word of the Year, seeing an increase of 100 per cent since 2014. The increased presence of transgender public figures such as Caitlyn Jenner, as well as transgender actors such as Laverne Cox, has made awareness of the word much more public.

Here are eight other picks on the Word of the Year list: