Gaslighting is Word of the Year 2022. A play defined it 84 years ago

Gen Z started the year 2022, with a sarcastic take on the Millennials' 'live, love, laugh' mantra - 'gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss'. This dark humour was in response to the flurry of fake news, faux-motivational feminists, and 90s-born people gatekeeping everything made before the millennium. 

gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. in that order. pic.twitter.com/jRBe9XEUT0

— 💥; vinny / dee @ wowzers!!😍😍 (@guitarstickerz) November 28, 2022

Now, one of those terms has become the Merriam-Webster 2022 word of the year - gaslighting. 

“Gaslighting” — defined as the act of grossly misleading someone, especially for one's own advantage — is Merriam-Webster's word of the year. Searches for the word on https://t.co/tooIdpIafd increased 1,740% in 2022 over the year before. https://t.co/wHK89BKSTP pic.twitter.com/OUpdJNGUd7

— The Associated Press (@AP) November 28, 2022

Were you ever told you are being too emotional or sensitive or "it's all in your head" when you complained of mistreatment and abuse? That's one example. 

Definition of gaslighting: 

• In everyday life, we see politicians often gaslight the public, we witness it in abusive relationships, even between a doctor and a patient, called 'medical gaslighting' and more scenarios.
• Merriam-Webster says it leads to "confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator".

Why is it word of the year? Gaslighting was looked up on merriam-webster.com 1,740% more in 2022 than the year before. And it wasn't because of any single event that resulted in the search for the word, which is usually the case with any other word of the year. For example, the 2021 world of the year was "vaccine" and we know why. 

• The term, gaslighting, has been around for a WHILE; 84 years to be precise. Merriam-Webster says it isn't as surprising that interest in the word peaked at a time when terms such as fake news and deepfakes are popular in modern times. 

History of the word: The word gaslighting was derived from some actual lighting of lamps (remember when there were no bulbs?).

• The origins of the word can be traced back to a 1938 play called 'Gas light'. 
• In December 1938, Patrick Hamilton's play, Gas Light, premiered at London's Richmond Theatre. 

• It was a psychological thriller set in the 1880s Victorian era about a nefarious man, Mr Manningham, who manipulated his new wife, Bella, into thinking she was going mad. 
• When Bella complained of hearing noises coming from the attic at night and the flickering and dimming of gas lights, Mr. Manningham would say that she was just imagining all that stuff.
• The play defined toxic masculinity. 
• The play was a hit and was adapted into two movies - one in the 1940s and the other more popular one in 1944 titled "Gaslight" starring Ingrid Bergman, who won an Oscar for her performance in the movie. 

Soon, the term "Gaslight" transformed from a noun to a verb and now to the 2022 word of the year. 

Modern pop culture: The word has not lost its sheen in modern pop culture. "Gaslit" is the name of a limited series set during the Watergate scandal in the US and stars Julia Roberts. The recent black comedy thriller Bodies Bodies Bodies starts off with the cool girl yelling, "You're always gaslighting me." 

In Alia Bhatt-starrer Darlings, we see a woman trapped in an abusive marriage with Hamza, who often gaslights her into thinking that the abuse is part of his love and that he loves her despite his monstrous side.