Which one word would characterize 2007 for you?

The Chicago Tribune writes about what that word may be. Some of the ones they cited were:

"Subprime"
"waterboarding"
"surge"

There's got to be something better!

Mac Geek drive terabyte

violence terrorism bombing assassination demonstration nuclear protest extremist suicide
genocide

gas oil SUV ethanol carbon global
bitten euthanized cruelty
wildfire forestry flood drought

candidate presidential earmarks Iowa snooping evangelical scandal secrecy disclosure incompetence resignation

outbreak lead recall salmonella antifreeze
war impeachment deficit casualties withdrawal trillion euro
marriage abuse pedophilia gay metrosexual clergy wax gangs embryonic
mortgage foreclosure homeless

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dalehileman,

Coincidentally in Bierma's column, he writes that Dennis Baron of the University of Illinois says that no other word captured the this year better than English. He thinks the current words of the year are so “unmemorable” that we should stick with English.

quote:

no other word captured the this year better than English.

I am pleased to learn that I am achieving the recognition I so richly deserve...

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Coincidentally in Bierma's column, he writes that Dennis Baron of the University of Illinois says that no other word captured the this year better than English. He thinks the current words of the year are so “unmemorable” that we should stick with English.

That is completely ridiculous. The whole university is going to hell in a hand basket since I left.

Which of the two articles is completely ridiculous? I assume, as you mention the university, that you mean the second.

It seemed to me that it was someone with an ax to grind trying to make a point with some not very subtle irony.

Anyway, here's my very early nomination for the word of 2008.

Here's a word that before yesterday I had never heard but heard used on TV at least ten times in the last twenty four hours - globesity.

It was used in news stories on at least three of the main channels and again in the Newsnight current affairs program.

Apparently, although the usage wasn't exactly clear, it means the global obesity "epidemic" (news reader phrasing not mine).

quote:

Apparently, although the usage wasn't exactly clear, it means the global obesity "epidemic"

The programme visited Mississippi which is, it seems, the most obese State in the most obese country in the world.

One of the interviewees was a lady in, I would guess, her early 20s who weighed over 20 stone. She seemed quite unconcerned at her size and listed, proudly, all the massive and massively unhealthy things she consumed. Of course, by truly obese standards she's but a minnow. Last night there was a feature on a woman who weighed 64 stone! (A stone is 14 pound).

Apparently, in obesity as in other areas, China is now catching the USA up with a significant proportion of the country's population now clinically obese.

Rich thank you for that. At 78rpm I didn't even know

For Gosh sake that's 900 lb

To any prescriptivist participant: I used slide rule

quote:

The programme visited Mississippi which is, it seems, the most obese State in the most obese country in the world.

Ah, but we are the smartest country so at least that's something. (P.S., since I was obviously joking, none of your "facts" please!)

quote:

The whole university is going to hell in a hand basket since I left.

It surely has...I watched the Rose Bowl Game on New Year's Day!

I realise you're joking, but it's interesting nevertheless. I know of no statistics that measure intelligence by country but things such as literacy and numeracy are easier to determine According to the CIA World Factbook, only six countries claim 100% literacy: Greenland, Norway, Georgia, Luxembourg, Finland and Liechtenstein. The UK and the USA come 37th and 40th respectively, with literacy rates of 99%. Cuba is 9th in the world with a rate of 99.8%.

Of course, one could suggest that the data are not very robust relying, as must surely be the case, on self-reporting - but it's still salutary to realise that some countries (mostly those in Sub-Saharan Africa) are still reporting literacy rates of less than 30%.

quote:

relying, as must surely be the case, on self-reporting

I can imagine the survey ...

quote:

Check here if you can read
Check here if you can't read

It's an amusing idea but I suspect the self-reporting would have been that of the responsible authorities. It was significant that a large number of the "highly literate" countries were those of the form communist block.

I'm gonna wanna know if the increasing use of "gonna" and "wanna" indicates that they are destined to become standard.

Comments?

quote:

Originally posted by jerry thomas:
I'm gonna wanna know if the increasing use of "gonna" and "wanna" indicates that they are destined to become standard.

Comments?

Do American teens use "innit" as a universal question tag replacing not just "isn't it" but also such things as "doesn't it", "haven't I", "didn't we" and every other question tag?
This is quite common among some groups of British teens.

I never heard or read "innit" until I got exposed to its use by British people on the Internet, and I like it. I predict that it will quickly spread to America and other places where English is spoken. N'est-ce pas?