The 'Word of the Year?' It's not authentic or rizz. It's audacity.

Two of the world's top dictionary publishers, Merriam-Webster and the Oxford University Press, recently announced their respective picks for the "2023 Word of the Year."

Merriam-Webster selected "authentic." Oxford University Press has chosen "rizz," a slang term for "charisma."

I respectfully disagree.

It's obvious that the 2023 Word of the Year is "audacity."

Some of the jaw-dropping behavior this year demands nothing less.

In a body that is more dysfunctional than The Island of Misfit Toys, former U.S. Rep. George Santos of New York was expelled from Congress amid accusations of lying, theft and fraud; marking only the sixth time in American history that such action was taken.

For Santos, it was the grift of his life. Running for Congress took an audaciousness that makes P.T. Barnum look like a village parson.

The Lying King: George Santos lie-a-palooza proves need for local media

For Republicans, throwing him out was a rare break from their ongoing quest to punish Hunter Biden, who's sure to be impeached any day now.

But it really is a shame that an astronaut/surgeon/war hero like Santos has been treated so shabbily by an ungrateful nation. Does no one recall how he captured Osama bin Laden using nothing more than a lasso and a stun gun?

But don't cry for Santos, Argentina. He's currently on pace to make more money as a social media star than he ever made in Congress because it's 2023.

In the Senate, New Jersey's Bob Menendez, a Democrat, has come under investigation — again — after the Justice Department accused him of abusing his office to benefit the Egyptian government, and a friend facing bank-fraud charges, in exchange for gold bars, cash and a convertible.

After beating a corruption indictment in 2017, you'd think Menendez would be cured from playing with matches, but he remains audaciously defiant, even pulling the "They're only after me because I'm Hispanic" card.

Meanwhile, a staffer with Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin's office has resigned after making a sex tape in one of the Senate hearing rooms — clearly because the Capitol Building wasn't desecrated enough on Jan. 6. This comes on the heels of an LGBTQ+ activist posting a photo of herself — shirtless — at the White House during a Pride celebration, and the discovery of a packet of cocaine in the building.

Has everyone gone mad?

Campuses around the country are being roiled by protesters, some of whom have taken up the Hamas chant, "From the River to the Sea." It's since been revealed through a survey that many students can't identify either the river or the sea in question, thus proving yet again that Americans are allergic both to history and geography — but not irony.

Hiding behind protest: Colleges are letting violence masquerade as protest

This year, Ohio has been a cornucopia of audacity and embarrassment; from a 10-year-old rape victim having to flee the state for an abortion to a former House speaker going to prison for bribery to the state Legislature trying to run roughshod over election results they don't like.

In Trumbull County, Commissioner Niki Frenchko was arrested after criticizing the sheriff over jail conditions, apparently violating a weird state law that prohibits "offending the sensibilities of the group" at public meetings.

Aside from being undemocratic — well, there is no aside.

Audacity is traveling to someone else's country then being surprised that you can't do as you like. At least three sets of tourists were arrested this year after carving their initials on the Colosseum in Rome.

How do you spell effrontery?

Here at home, a visiting football team invited to tour the Pro Football Hall of Fame apparently thought no one would mind them taking more than $1,000 worth of merchandise.

Imagine being invited to someone's home, whereupon you proceed to rob them blind. None of the players were charged — though they should have been — but their coach lost his job.

We're about to be besieged by the 2024 presidential election, which includes candidates whose audacity can't be measured. Aside from one whose lies and carnival barking outpaces most reporters' ability to type, you could only wish to be half as self-assured as Vivek Ramaswamy, who has no experience in public service, but is certain he's ready lead the free world.

Fellow neophyte Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is defying his own family to run against President Joe Biden.

That sound you hear is the Kennedy men spinning in their graves.

Ramaswamy hasn't laid a glove on former President Donald Trump, whose 91 indictments haven't put a dent in his base of support. Trump has publicly promised that if he wins again, he'll be a dictator — but only on Day One.

His announcement, coupled with a vow to rid the nation of undocumented immigrants from certain countries because they are "poisoning the blood of our country," was greeted with cheers.

Suddenly, "audacity" doesn't seem quite adequate.

Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Charita Goshay: The Word of the Year is not what you've been told