Hard to sum up 2020 in a word

It is that time of year when we often look back at the year that was. And what a year it was. One we would not rather look back at. It is hard to sum up 2020 in a word, although Merriam-Webster and Oxford Languages and Dictionary.com always try. This year, the obvious choice is “pandemic.” Use of the term increased more than 57,000 percent from last year. Coronavirus is a word coined in 1968, but hadn’t been spoken much until this year. Certainly the virus dominated our conversations, but 2020 was more than a pandemic. It was disorder. That is my nominee for word of the year. Disorder is described as “a lack of order or regular arrangement; confusion. That sounds like 2020. From the virus to the economic fallout to politics to civil unrest. Disorder is further defined as “A breach of civic order or peace, an upset of health or functioning, to throw into disorder, to derange.” That was the kind of year it was. There was certainly disorder, an upset of health and a breach of civic order. 2020 was more than just a pandemic. It was uncertainty, fear, tumult and disorder. Here is to a little more order in our lives in 2021.