American Dialect Society
It’s that most excellent time of the year again, when the American Dialect Society gathers to look at what we’ve been saying for last year and vote for the best words and phrases.
Here’s what those linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, editors, students, and independent scholars decided upon for this year (winners are marked with an asterisk):
WORD OF THE YEAR
YOLO: acronym for “You Only Live Once,” often used sarcastically or self-deprecatingly
fiscal cliff: threat of spending cuts and tax increases looming over end-of-year budget negotiations
*#hashtag: a word or phrase preceded by a hash symbol (#), used on Twitter to mark a topic or make a commentary
Gangnam style: the trendy style of Seoul’s Gangnam district, as used in the Korean pop song of the same name
marriage equality: legal recognition of same-sex marriage
47 percent: portion of the population that does not pay federal income tax
MOST USEFUL
YOLO: acronym for “You Only Live Once,” often used sarcastically or self-deprecatingly
* -(po)calypse, -(ma)geddon: hyperbolic combining forms for various catastrophes
hate-watching: continuing to follow a television show despite having an aversion to it
beardruff: dandruff from one’s beard
MOST CREATIVE
mansplaining: a man’s condescending explanation to a female audience
alpacalypse: the Mayan apocalypse predicted for Dec. 21, 2012 (alpaca + -lypse)
*gate lice: airline passengers who crowd around a gate waiting to board
dancelexia: inability to pull off dance moves (such as misspelling “YMCA”)
MOST UNNECESSARY
*legitimate rape: type of rape that Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin claimed rarely results in pregnancy
Frankenstorm: term for Hurricane Sandy’s hybrid storm system (after Frankenstein’s monster)
HD: abbreviation for “high-definition,” used for things that could not be high-definition
feels: slangy shortening of “feelings”
MOST OUTRAGEOUS
Dunlop effect: when one’s stomach protrudes over ill-fitting pants (“belly done lop over the belt”)
*legitimate rape: type of rape that Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin claimed rarely results in pregnancy
slut-shaming: attacking a woman for socially stigmatized sexual activity
butt-chugging: an alcohol enema, used in college fraternity hazing rituals
MOST EUPHEMISTIC
disruptive: destroying existing business models
Gray Thursday: name given to Thanksgiving as a shopping day before Black Friday
*self-deportation: policy of encouraging illegal immigrants to return voluntarily to their home countries
ratchet: slang term originally referring to “urban divas” now used to mean “ghetto”
evolution: change of opinion
MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED
fiscal cliff: threat of spending cuts and tax increases looming over end-of-year budget negotiations
superstorm: an unusually large and destructive storm, such as Hurricane Sandy
MOOC: acronym for “massive open online course”
*marriage equality: legal recognition of same-sex marriage
big data: large collections of digital information used for revealing behavioral insights
LEAST LIKELY TO SUCCEED
cray-cray: slangy shortening and reduplication of “crazy”
Gangnam style: the trendy style of Seoul’s Gangnam district, as used in the Korean pop song of the same name
Windows Metro: name originally used for the Windows 8 operating system
*phablet: mid-sized electronic device between a smartphone and a tablet
*YOLO: acronym for “You Only Live Once,” often used sarcastically or self-deprecatingly
meggings: a blend for “male leggings”
ELECTION WORDS (new category)
47 percent: portion of the population that does not pay federal income tax
Etch-a-Sketch: metaphor of reinvention used by Romney campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom
Eastwooding: photo fad inspired by Clint Eastwood’s unscripted speech at the RNC
Romney/Obama: names of candidates used for blends (Obamaloney, Obamageddon, Romnesia, Romney Hood)
*binders (full of women): term used by Romney in the second presidential debate to describe the resumes of female job candidates that he consulted as governor of Massachusetts
malarkey: nonsense, empty talk (as used by Biden in the vice-presidential debate)
So we’re saying “phablet” is in it for the long haul as part of our language, but “cray-cray” is not? I’m outraged.
Also, there are 13 of these I’d never heard before. “Gate-lice”? “Butt-chugging”? Seriously?
I love gate lice and hate-watching. And the biggest surprise for me here has to be butt chugging.
Reflections of our society…
YOLO now only reminds me of my brother-in-law, who felt the need to shout, “CARPE DIEM!” while *running* down the street to watch the Seattle fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Afterwards, he proclaimed that “Carpe diem is just YOLO for smart people.” (I then had to ask what YOLO meant.)
And I agree with Melissa’s outrage. A southern friend of mine said “cray-cray” all the time when we worked together in Seoul (in Gangnam, actually) in 2010. It’s not going anywhere for a few more years at least.
I’ve been trying to teach young people “WOLO” instead of YOLO, playing up the fact that if we only live once, we do it responsibly. I’ll let you know if it ever catches on.
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