America in one word? 'Free,' 'great,' or 'divided,' 'broken'
Free and great, or divided and confused. Diverse and powerful, or troubled and broken. In search of a single word encapsulating their country at this moment, Americans offered pollsters a lexicon reflecting both hope and dissonance.
The most-uttered word from about 1,000 responses to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey was "freedom," with "free" not far behind at No. 4. "Great" took second place - and "good," ''powerful," ''wonderful" and "awesome" also occupied the top tier. But crowding the list were entries mirroring national angst.
"Divided" ranked third, and "confused" and "troubled" tied for fifth, amassed alongside other words of distress: "broken," ''lost," and more bluntly, "screwed."
