#BREXIT

AND HOW IT AFFECTED

THE POPULATION

JOSUÉ AARÓN CISNEROS &

MOISES LEVI CRUZ
BREXIT IS AN ABBREVIATION OF
THE WORDS BRITAIN AND EXIT,
AND IS THE TERM COINED TO
REFER TO THE UNITED KINGDOM'S
DEPARTURE FROM THE EUROPEAN
UNION (EU).

THE UNITED KINGDOM JOINED THE

CONTINENTAL BLOC, CURRENTLY
MADE UP OF 28 COUNTRIES, ON
JANUARY 1, 1973, BUT IN JUNE
2016 THE BRITISH DECIDED TO
LEAVE THE EU AND END A
RELATIONSHIP OF MORE THAN
FOUR DECADES.
HOLDING A REFERENDUM TO DECIDE
WHETHER OR NOT THE UK SHOULD REMAIN
IN THE EU WAS ONE OF THE CAMPAIGN
PROMISES WITH WHICH THE THEN PRIME
MINISTER DAVID CAMERON WON
RE-ELECTION IN 2015.

AND IN THE VOTE, WHICH TOOK PLACE ON

JUNE 23, 2016, 48.1% OF BRITONS VOTED TO
STAY IN THE BLOC, BUT 51.8% VOTED TO
LEAVE THE EU.
 AT THE TIME, THE IDEA OF A REFERENDUM ON THE
UK'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU WAS NOT A WIDELY
DISCUSSED ISSUE IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE, BUT
THE HASHTAG #BREXIT BEGAN TO GAIN
POPULARITY ON TWITTER AND BECAME A
COMMONLY USED TERM TO REFER TO THE
POSSIBLE SCENARIO OF A UK EXIT FROM THE
EUROPEAN UNION.

THE HASHTAG #BREXIT ORIGINATED ON

TWITTER IN FEBRUARY 2012, WELL BEFORE
THE REFERENDUM THAT ULTIMATELY DECIDED
THE UK'S EXIT FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION.

IT WAS COINED BY A TWITTER USER NAMED

DARREN DUTTON, WHO TWEETED, "WHY
DOESN'T THE EU HAVE A #BREXIT TO LEAVE
THE EU?".
OVER TIME, THE USE OF THE HASHTAG SPREAD BEYOND
TWITTER AND BECAME A COMMONLY USED TERM IN THE
MEDIA AND IN POLITICS TO DESCRIBE THE DISCUSSION
ABOUT THE U.K.'S EXIT FROM THE EU. FINALLY, IN 2016, THE
THEN BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, DAVID CAMERON, CALLED A
REFERENDUM ON THE UK'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU, AND
THE HASHTAG #BREXIT BECAME ONE OF THE MOST
COMMONLY USED TERMS IN DISCUSSIONS AND DEBATES
ABOUT THE REFERENDUM AND ITS OUTCOME.
#BREXIT