Buzzword of the Year winner keeps coming back for more

InfluenceChronicles.com -- Our Buzzword of the Year winner is resilient.  We mean, resilient the word, which is itself resilient. Or resiliency, which is what resilient has. You get the idea.
 
True, resilient has been around for many years. But not since “step up to the plate” has a buzz-utterance gained such prominence in so many spheres of influence, from politics to self-help, sports to economic development. Resilient is a place, emotion, idea, behavior, product, strategy or outcome.  
 
In choosing the winner, we consider the level of publicity attempts centered on the buzzword or phrase. This year saw a big spike in articles and posts, including several that list the traits of resilient people. And as with other buzz-think, much of the punditry doesn’t get beyond a firm grasp of the obvious. 
 
Take for example the performance coach who advises that “resilient people know how to bounce back.” Well, yea. That’s like saying swimmers know how to get wet.
 
Another pro-resiliency advocate quoted research saying that 92 percent of Americans “report suffering at least one significant negative event in their lifetime.”  We suppose the remaining eight percent are those happy people in the TV ads singing about their cheese.
 
Given that more than half of the nation’s voters must bounce back from November’s 

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election outcome, resilient could be next year's first repeat buzzword champion. Or it might be one of this year’s runners-up: optics, story-telling, wheelhouse, gravitas or Buzzword Hall of Famer stakeholder engagement.

But don’t be surprised if something from the President’s signature Trumpology rises above all contenders.  We’ve already picked braggadocious as 2017’s long-shot favorite.

​Until then, congratulations to our winner.