In everyday life, in political speeches or in the media, they have been on everyone’s lips over the past year. A look back at ten words that marked 2023.
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The prompt – which can be translated from English as a request or a request – is one of the words of the year 2023. It designates an instruction that is given to an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm in order to whether it generates texts or images. For example, ChatGPT, one of the AIs specialized in content production, generates around 1.5 billion prompts per day. If we add to this the mass of requests which are also sent to Bing Chat, Bard, Midjourney… it seems that Internet users were “quick” this year to get used to conversational AI.
Read alsoDiscrimination, manipulation, job destruction… The biggest risks linked to AI
“Olélé, olala, but what happened? We messed with them!” Here is the refrain frequently sung this year by RC Lens players. A victory song which expresses the pride of beating the opponent and which was originally launched during the 2019-2020 season, according to Lens goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca. In the dictionary, chicoter means either “to make a cry” for a mouse, or “to worry”, “to worry”. The expression Sang et Or can also have an origin to be sought… from the DR Congo, where chicote means “a whip”.
Eleven times in 2022 and twelve times in 2023: article 49.3 is undoubtedly the political refrain of the past year, and also the method favored by the executive since the arrival of Élisabeth Borne at Matignon, in May 2022. Through this process, the government engages its responsibility before the National Assembly by adopting a bill without a vote. The use of this article is unlimited for finance and Social Security financing bills, but possible for only one other bill per parliamentary session. At the current rate (23 uses of 49.3), the executive is approaching the record under Ve Republic held by the Michel Rocard government – 28 uses of the 49.3 between 1988 and 1991.
Read alsoBudget: what you need to know about the government’s use of 49.3
On the Ukrainian front or in several African countries (in Sudan, Mali or the Central African Republic), the Russian paramilitary group has made headlines this year. Under the leadership of Yevgeni Prigozhin, Wagner also entered into conflict with Moscow at the end of June, leading a rebellion that was ultimately aborted. Since then, the boss of the paramilitary group has died – in August, in a plane crash in Russia – and Wagner’s activities seem to have been taken over by Vladimir Putin.
Read alsoEvkurov and Averianov: a general and a spy for post-Prigozhin Africa?
This is the name of the main border crossing that connects the Gaza Strip to the outside world via Egypt, a vital crossing point for the 2.4 million inhabitants living in the Palestinian enclave. Since the Hamas attack on October 7 and the Israeli military response that followed, the activity of the Rafah border crossing, which allows commercial traffic and the movement of people in peacetime, has been severely restricted. , slowing down the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. A “humanitarian catastrophe” auguring a “collapse” of society in the Palestinian enclave, according to the UN. Before the war, nearly 500 trucks entered the Gaza Strip every day, compared to only 181 on December 17 – 102 through Rafah and 79 through the newly reopened Kerem Shalom crossing.
Read alsoRafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza: “This is not a normal border”
We could dwell here on the multiple fossil discoveries by paleontologists this year – whether it’s the second largest spider in the world in Australia or this 41 million year old miniature whale in Egypt. But this word mainly refers to the energies of the same name which were at the center of the debates during COP28 in Dubai (November 30 – December 12). This climate conference concluded with an unprecedented compromise with a text calling, for the first time in the history of the COP, to gradually abandon fossil fuels. A first step towards oil and gas one day becoming… fossils.
Read alsoCOP28: an unprecedented agreement on fossil fuels, but numerous “gaps”
It is a word used for years in popular language which entered two dictionaries in 2023. Le Larousse and Le Robert now admit this adjective, defining it as “that which makes you uncomfortable, creates discomfort , discomfort”. This term is associated with embarrassing situations that the Internet is full of, and of which accounts – like MalaiseTV on
Shrinkflation, or re-flation, was highlighted in August by several political figures, including the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire. Behind this English portmanteau – the contraction of “shrink” (“reduce”) and inflation – hides a commercial strategy consisting of reducing the quantities of a product while maintaining the same packaging and the same price. A hidden price increase, in short. Several brands using this practice have been singled out, such as Pampers diapers, M&M’s and even St Marc household products.
Read also“Shrinkflation” or “reduflation”, a criticized commercial strategy
The notion, which previously designated the so-called Third World countries, brings together the States of the South with a growing role on the international scene, in opposition to the “global North”, the other name for the West. This year, the countries of the “global South” affirmed their singularity by demonstrating calculated neutrality on the war in Ukraine or by widening the gap with the countries of the North with the war between Israel and Hamas. The “Global South” also expanded its global political and economic influence at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in August, and the group expanded to include six new countries – Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Read alsoThe war in Ukraine, a mirror of the divisions between the West and the countries of the South
The social network Twitter became X and modified its legendary logo in July. Gone is the famous blue bird, the new owner, the whimsical businessman Elon Musk, has decided to change era. First consequence immediately: X lost more than 5% of its daily active users in August, as well as in September. If we add to this the massive presence of fake news online, the loss of brand value or even advertising suspensions – those of IBM or the European Commission, among others – the year has been rather chaotic for x.
Read alsoElon Musk and Twitter: “absolute freedom of expression”… with variable geometry