The Global Language Monitor
has issued its list of the top words used in English-language media worldwide in 2010. The selections are not necessarily new words, just words that suddenly gained heavy usage.
1. Spillcam
2. Vuvuzela
3. Narrative
4. Refudiate
5. Guido/guidette
6. Deficit
7. Snowmageddon/snowpocalypse
8. 3-D
9. Shellacking
10. Simplexity
Among the top
phrases for 2010: teachable moment, ambush marketing, Lady Gaga, man up, Great Recession.
UPDATE: The New Oxford Dictionary
has declared "refudiate" to be the Word Of The Year.
“From a strictly lexical interpretation of the different contexts in which Palin has used 'refudiate,' we have concluded that neither 'refute' nor 'repudiate' seems consistently precise, and that 'refudiate' more or less stands on its own, suggesting a general sense of 'reject.'"
I think I was on one of the last planes allowed to land at JFK yesterday during the blizzard. Travel tip: You really don't want to be on flights that end with applause for the pilot. Anyway, this morning I sent my relief cat-sitter Edward out into the mess for a few photos. At this writing, everything on my block appears to be closed except for drugstores and coffee shops.
