The American Dialect Society is now taking nominations for both the word of the year and the word of the decade. Their annual meeting is January 7-9 in SF.

I imagine the word of the year...and maybe even of he decade...will be a techy one. For example, in 2001 we'd surely not heard of Twitter, and yet many major companies and organizations (including mine) are using it as a word to disseminate information.

What are your thoughts for the word of the year and the word of the decade? Here is what they say to consider:

The best "word of the year" candidates will be:

—new or newly popular in 2009
—widely or prominently used in 2009
—indicative or reflective of the popular discourse

The best "word of the decade" candidates will be:

—especially prominent or important throughout the years 2000-2009
—indicative of trends, fads, upheavals, groundswells, or sea changes which affected history, culture, or society throughout the years 2000-2009.


I know it's not a big deal, but I think it's fun to think about which new words have really made an impact on society.

z had posted a link to Quinion for something else, and this discussion of the Swiss word of the year was there; I hadn't realized (but should have!) that other languages do the same thing:

quote:

Word of the Year Switzerland is up to the minute with its choice of its word of the year for 2009, as you might expect from a jury of journalists. They are all from German-speaking Switzerland and Liechtenstein; their choice was Minarettverbot, minaret ban. It was only last Sunday that a Swiss referendum banned the erection of minarets on mosques, a deeply controversial decision. Jury members argued the term had the potential to become as notable a Swiss export as Müesli. We must assume tongues were firmly in cheeks when drafting this statement. The Unwort, the taboo word of the year, was Ventilklausel, which literally translates as “valve clause”. It describes the way that the migration of people from the European Union into Switzerland and back is regulated.

Well, heck. No one is interested.

That's okay. I enjoy talking to myself.

Today Eric Zorn had a nice column in the Chicago Tribune looking at terms that had become popular during the last decade, citing the first time they were mentioned in the Tribune. Some of them were:

iPod (October 29, 2001)
ringtones (June 17, 2002)
facebook (May 25, 2004)
Wikipedia (Jan. 16, 2005)
Twitter (March 14, 2007)

It seems like Wikipedia has been around forever!

What can I say? These words of the year things just leave me cold. I think the only reason for their existence is to spark controversy amongst the readership to increase circulation. The Swiss German word is interesting. I had been following the whole minaret ban thing in the media, but not in German. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, Kalleh.

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What can I say? These words of the year things just leave me cold.

Ditto, I'm afraid.

While I do agree with arnie and zm, I think it depends on how seriously you take it. There's fun to be had if you don't take it seriously.

Word of the year?
I'd go for "expenses". Maybe "duck house". Possibly "moat cleaning". I don't know how much of the MPs expenses scandal has been reported in the US but it filled the papers here across the summer and has now reared its head again with a further round of things that have been paid for by politicians and charged to the public, ranging from three garlic presses bought from the Home Shopping Channel to repairs to a bell tower.

Of course I could just as easily have gone for "bonuses". The Government has so far used, according to the National Audit Office, £850 billion pounds to prop up the banks after they were so badly mismanaged that they very nearly collapsed completely. This may well be a drop in the ocean compared to the final figure. In spite of this the banks are set on paying the same ludicrous bonuses to top staff this year on the grounds that if they don't their "best people" will quit and go to work elsewhere. Those are the same "best people" that caused the mess in the first place. God help us if we ever get the worst people in charge.
The Government says it will charge a one off tax of fifty percent this year on high bonuses. The banks are already busy figuring out ways to get round it. Anybody who thinks that any banker will lose a single penny through this "tax" is living in cloud-cucckoo land.

As for the word of the decade, I'd go for "sorry" it has so many delicious shades of meaning when politicians use it. IT weaves and dodges around the actual meaning, coming close and then darting away again, without ever actually indicating that anyone genuinely is sorry. Sorry that you feel that way? Yes. Sorry that I was caught? Yes. But actually, sorry? No. Tony Blair is the ultimate master of "sorry", but most politicians have it down pretty well. I think they have a special school where they all go to learn about weasel words, and how to use them.

I know they're not new words but they are my words of the year and decade.

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things that have been paid for by politicians and charged to the public, ranging from three garlic presses bought from the Home Shopping Channel to repairs to a bell tower.

I've not seen about the garlic presses, but payment for the bell tower repairs was refused. Not that he didn't try it on, though.

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While I do agree with arnie and zm, I think it depends on how seriously you take it. There's fun to be had if you don't take it seriously.

That's the way I feel, as well. Certainly I don't take the word of the year seriously, but I enjoy reading about the popularity (or seemingly so) of words.

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Possibly "moat cleaning".

That may be the answer as to why so many of these words are techy. "Moat cleaning" or "red states" are really country based, but words about IT are more widely recognized.

What about other twitter derivatives, like twitterverse, twitterati, tweet, etc? Seems like those words have taken on a life of their own, but possibly not just this year.

"Tweet," I've heard of, but that's about it. What is twitterverse or twitterati?

I'd have thought they were relatively easy to work out blends

twitterverse = twitter + universe
twitterati = twitter + glitterati

Apparently the use of hand-held devices to twitter has resulted in carpal tunnel symptoms in many users. However, doctors say the condition is tweetable.

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I'd have thought they were relatively easy to work out blends

Yes, Bob, I understand. I just thought there might be something a little more specific.