'Vax' is Oxford's word of the year this 2021

"Vax" has been chosen by the Oxford English Dictionary as this year's word of the year.

In a blog post, Oxford said "vax" was a relatively rare word in their corpus until 2021. By September, the word was used "over 72 times more frequently than at the same time last year."

Additionally, numerous informal derivatives of the word have been generated by the public.

"From vax sites and vax cards to getting vaxxed and being fully vaxxed, no word better captures the atmosphere of the past year than vax," Oxford said.

This is not surprising seeing as COVID-19 vaccines have been rolled out more aggressively this year amid the ongoing pandemic.

Last year, Oxford didn't choose a single word of the year, saying that 2020 was not a year that could "neatly be accommodated" by one word. —JCB, GMA News