Word of the Year

by Leolaia 27 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Valis

  PANDEMIC
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  Incense_and_Peppermints

  PANDEMIC

  lmao!

  movieokie?Version of a movie allowing would-be actors to perform the dialogue

  i wish we had that here. better yet, "Simpsonyokie"! i'd so win...
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  Tigerman

  What word best describes 2004 ? TSUNAMI
• 

  Midget-Sasquatch

  The Daily Show was using this one for a while: mess-o-patamia.
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  Leolaia

  Tigerman....Metrosexual was actually the word of the year last year.

  We also talked briefly about tsunami but since the event happened just in the very last days of the year, it couldn't really be said to define the year per se.

  My update on what happened is just ahead....
• 

  Leolaia

  Well, the vote is done and we have a new word of the year. But first, let's go over some of the smaller individual categories for 2004.

  The first category we considered was "Most Useful". We had four candidates that were accepted for nomination: backdoor draft ("the filling of military jobs through reactivation of former troops or through forced enlistment extensions known as stop-loss orders"), blog- as a prefix (e.g. blogosphere), fetch as an adjective meaning "cool" or "stylish," and phish ("to acquire passwords or other private information via a digital ruse"). After naming the candidates, we had a little time for debate for and against. Erin McKean argued against voting for backdoor draft because its usefulness is limited to the immediate, current political climate, whereas another linguist pointed out that the bad policy itself may stick around and thus the term as well. Someone else argued in favor of fetch, noting that it has a quasi-expletive feel to it, and another person claimed that in Provo, Utah, it is indeed used as a swear word. Yet another person spoke on the behalf of phish, noting that it utilizes a well-established spelling convention going back to the '80s hacker term phreaking, and because of the increasing ubiquity of spam email, we all will have ample occasion to use the word. One audience member also giddily mentioned that voting for phish will help remind everyone of the band Phish. After this short debate, the time came for the vote. Backdoor draft received 16 votes, blog- received 1 vote, fetch received 11 votes, and phish won 47 votes. By a clear majority, phish was voted the "Most Useful" word of 2004.

  Next up was "Most Creative". This category gives special recognition to all the clever neologisms of the year. We had four words nominated for this category: hillbilly armor ("scavenged materials used by soldiers for improvised bullet-proofing and vehicle hardening"), lawn mullet ("a yard neatly mowed in front but unmowed in the back"), nerdvana ("geeks really geeking out, collaborative geekiness"), and pajamahadeen ("bloggers who challenge and fact-check traditional media," pronounced like mujahadeen). I must say that I really cracked out laughing when I read the definition for lawn mullet. Dennis Preston spoke in favor for this word and noted that in the St. Louis sense of the term "hoosier," the word refers to real redneck, trailer trash types who maintain their front lawn for appearances but let the back lawn run wild. The term is clever not only for comparing grass with hair and likening a hair style with lawn maintenance but also for evoking the socioeconomic status of the stereotypical mullet-haired person. This was followed by someone arguing in favor for nerdvana, making the obvious point that what all of us were doing at this very moment was the epitome of nerdvana. Meanwhile, someone else noted that while pajamahadeen was not as popular as its neologistic alternative, it is a multilingual blend -- combining Farsi with English, and is important as well for alluding to Dan Rather's famous comment about bloggers in the pajamas. Then we gave a show of hands for the most worthy word for this category. The results: 10 votes for hillbilly armor, 29 votes for lawn mullet, 6 votes for nerdvana, and 36 votes for pajamahadeen. We lacked a majority, so we had a runoff between lawn mullet and pajamahadeen. This time, lawn mullet received 27 votes and pajamahadeen received 52 votes. Thus, the "Most Creative" word for 2004 was voted to be pajamahadeen.

  The third category is "Most Unnecessary". The candidates up for this category were: -based suffix (as in "reality-based," "faith-based"), carb-friendly ("low in carbohydrates"), erototoxin ("a chemical released in the brain of a person looking at pornography"), and stalkette ("a female stalker"). There were some pretty good arguments for considering several of these candidates. The suffix -based debases (pun intended) the stem its attached to by mitigating its meaning (e.g. "reality-based" is thus not reality). Carb-friendly, as another person pointed out, is a bizarre word that makes no sense. You are a friend to carbs because you are not consuming them? Is that supposed to be along the same lines as "dolphin-safe"? And since friendship is a two-way street, how can carbs be friendly to me if I avoid them? Erototoxin, on the other hand, is just a stupid word that refers to something that doesn't exist. Since it doesn't exist, it is not necessary. This argument however is a little weak because we apparently like to use a lot of words that refer to things that don't exist. Anyway, we then picked the word that we felt was the most unnecessary word for 2004: 14 votes for -based, 38 votes for carb-friendly, 17 votes for erototoxin, and 10 votes for stalkette. Again we needed a runoff....and carb-friendly ended up getting 50 votes and erototoxin received 36. The "Most Unnecessary" word for 2004 is thus declared to be carb-friendly.

  Well, the next category may not be for the squeamish: "Most Outrageous". We had four aspiring candidates: clone and kill ("raising a crop of humans for body parts"), douche chill ("the interjection that breaks the silence following a faux pas"), Jesusland ("what is left of the USA when the blue states join Canada"), and santorum ("frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter following anal sex"). The origin of this latter term is the name of Senator Rick Santorum who infamously likened gay sex to necrophilia. In response, the columnist Dan Savage (of the column "Savage Love") reportedly endorsed this term as an apt use of the Senator's name and, as one person noted tongue-in-cheek, as a result is that when you google "Santorum", now only the 7th or 8th hit is for the Senator. The term also has the advantage of having a precise etymology, and .... I could hardly think of anything more outrageous than this. The vote came down to: 6 for clone and kill, 9 for douche chill, 13 for Jesus land, and 39 for santorum -- making santorum the "Most Outrageous" word of 2004. Without a doubt, Dan Savage will have something to say about this....

  The next category is the polar opposite: "Most Euphemistic". The four candidates nominated were: angel ("soldier killed in action"), badly sourced ("false"), partner reduction ("divorce" or "dumping long-term partner"), and wardrobe malfunction ("unanticipated exposure of bodily parts"). In the debate that followed, a few points were brought out. Badly sourced is a splendid euphemism that avoids admitting the main issue and places the burden on one's sources; it is thus potentially quite useful for avoiding responsibility in other situations. Wardrobe malfunction is probably the most talked-out euphemism of the year, and was even used to refer to the bulge on President Bush's back as seen through his jacket in the first debate (dismissed as a wardrobe malfunction and not indicative of hidden gear), so clearly this euphemism has legs. The definition however is problematic: the exposure is "unanticipated" for whom? Certainly by the observer, but was it unanticipated by the participants (Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson)? This we shall never know. Nevertheless, we had to select the word and the votes came down to: 7 votes for angel, 50 votes for badly sourced, 3 votes for partner reduction, and 15 for wardrobe malfunction. By a large margin, it was clear that the "Most Euphemistic" word of 2004 is badly sourced. I think I voted for "wardrobe malfuction" tho.

  Next up was ?Most Likely to Succeed?. Most of the words we have just examined are cute but lack a long shelf life. What words might still be around a year or decade in the future? We had five candidates for this category: meet-up (?local special-interest meeting organized through a website?), mash-up (?a blend of two songs or albums into a single cohesive musical work?), orange revolution (?the recent Ukrainian crisis?), red, blue, and purple states (?the American political map?), and crunked (?being high or excited?). We had a lengthy debate on the merit of each of these words. Mash-up may be limited in use to a jargon term in a more narrow musical niche, whereas orange revolution may endure only as an obscure historical term. Crunked, on the other hand, turns out to have been around in the 1980s, and thus it has already succeeded and would thus not be any more eligible than any other eighties term still around. There was quite a range of opinion on red, blue, and purple states. On the one hand, these terms will remain in the political discourse throughout the next four years and will be revived in the next election. But this election will surely alter the identity of the red and blue states and thus the term can only be ephemeral in reference. What is more, the red color is being used to define political traits so that red-staters are being stereotyped as Republicans and conservatives ? which represents a complete reversal of the longstanding political connotation of red as indicative of Communist or liberal beliefs. This suggests that the new color terms have strong potential for the future. One person also noted that the terminology has been imported to Canada, with Canada being regarded as red and Quebec as the blue province, so clearly this phrase has legs. The vote came down to: 16 for meet-up, 23 for mash-up, 6 for orange revolution, 22 for red, blue, and purple states, and 2 for crunked. We needed a run-off to get a majority, and red, blue, and purple states won by 46 votes (as opposed to 22 for mash-up). The word ?Most Likely to Succeed? for 2004 is red, blue, and purple states.

  The last category is ?Least Likely to Succeed?. The candidates were FLOHPA (?collectively the states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, said to have been important in the 2004 election?), holy toast (?a grilled cheese with the image of the Virgin Mary, sold on eBay?), luanqibaozhao (?Chinese for complicated mess?), and security mom (?a female voter said to vote according to safety to family?). One person noted that FLOHPA is doomed to fail because of its evocation of ?flopper?, whereas security mom is invalid for this category because the suffix -mom (as in ?soccer mom? was already voted word of the year for 1996, so clearly it has already succeeded, as proven by the new term ?security mom? (and ?Nascar dads? in analogy). As for luanqibaozhao, we had a hard time pronouncing it so the word itself was a ?complicated mess?. And as for holy toast, it is unlikely to be used again until the sandwich comes up for bid again on eBay but the word itself is a nice example of a ghost rhyme (e.g. ?Father, Son, and Holy Toast?). We then gave our show of hands, and FLOHPA received 41 votes, holy toast received 23 votes, luanqibaozhao received 8 votes, and security mom received 2. The word voted ?Least Likely to Succeed? for 2004 is FLOHPA, surely to flop.

  Finally, we came to the most solemn part of the meeting...the vote for ?Word of the Year?. Any word that has already been considered in the other categories is eligible and other words may be nominated as well. The candidates selected were: mash-up, wardrobe malfunction, red, blue, and purple states, flip-flopper, and meet-up. In considering the relative merits of these individual terms, a number of points were brought up. Mash-up captures the current American zeitgeist of repurposing and copyright theft, whereas wardrobe malfunction came on the scene and had the opportunity to be used all year long. Flip-flopper however, more than any other word, showed us the power of language and the words we use to influence opinion. But nothing else gripped us in tedium and horror as red, blue, and purple states which were repeated ad nauseum in network and cable news shows and in printed media throughout most of the year. We finally showed our hands in support of our favorite word of the year: 2 for mash-up, 19 for wardrobe malfunction, 36 for red, blue, and purple states, 11 for flip-flopper, and 2 for meet-up.

  So there you have it... red, blue, and purple states is the official word (or words) for 2004. I voted for this term because it really did define 2004 more than any other word I know.
• 

  Leolaia

  From this morning's newspaper....

  http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_2519652

  Word 'nerds' pick their '04 favorites

  By Kristin Bender, STAFF WRITER

  OAKLAND ? Wardrobe malfunction was a favorite, flip-flopper won some nods, and mash-up was in the running. But after a nail-biter vote ? high drama among the highbrows Friday at the Oakland Marriott City Center ? "red state, blue state, purple state" was deemed the phrase that most colored the nation's lexicon in 2004. For a 15th straight year, the folks who teach and study linguistics and edit dictionaries ? they call themselves linguists, lexicographers and grammarians, but they also don't mind "nerd" ? chose the phrase that dominated the national discourse and most signified the year that just ended. "It was the best candidate for word of the year ? it engaged the American public for the entire year. Nothing showed the bloodthirsty, population-engaging election as this (phrase)," said Dennis Preston, a professor of linguistics at Michigan State University. A group of about 80 attending the 79th annual conference of the Linguistic Society of America (1,000 attendees) at the Marriott this weekend chose the phrase of the year as well as winners in other categories. Red state, blue state, purple state are together a representation of the American political map. The term defines red as favoring conservative Republicans, blue as favoring liberal Democrats and purple showing swing or undecided states. Words or phrases didn't need to be new or even well-known to get a nomination. One on the list ? "luanqibaozhao," which is Chinese for a complicated mess ? was not even pronounceable by the contest organizers. Don't look for it in Oxford anytime soon. The vote is serious, based on American Dialect Society members' "expertise in the study of words," but it is far from solemn. There was plenty of joking and giggling among the word gurus. Preston, for one, wanted the room to know that he was making a pitch for the term "lawn mullet" in the category of most creative. It describes a lawn that is neatly mowed in the front but unmowed in the back. "I thought about introducing lawn 'comb-over' too," he said, referring to lawn owners who don't replace the dead spots on the lawn but simply "comb over" the grass. Kathryn Remlinger, a linguistics professor with a biting sense of humor, put her vote behind "nerdvana" ? collective geekiness ? in the most-creative category. "I think all of us here are a great example of nerdvana," she said. But Remlinger also weighed in on erototoxin in the category of most unnecessary. Somebody, somewhere, at some point in time decided to coin the word to describe a (nonexistent) chemical released in the brain of a person looking at pornography. No really. It's a real word. Google it. Little-known fact: "To google" was deemed the most useful word way back in 2002. The American Dialect Society sponsored the contest, but anyone who showed up at the hotel could vote. "We feel that anyone who has been speaking American English or listening to American English this past year has the expertise," said Allan Metcalf, who ran the voting for the Dialect Society. Other top words or phrases of 2004 were "flip-flopper," a politician who changes political stances; "meet-up," a local special-interest meeting organized though a national Web site; "mash-up," a blend of two songs or albums into a single cohesive musical work; and "wardrobe malfunction," an unanticipated exposure of bodily parts. Wardrobe malfunction was coined when the world saw singer Janet Jackson's breast during the Super Bowl halftime show. But it could have easily been put on the ballot as "nipplegate," "boobgate" or "Janet Moment" ? those were phrases collected this year by Wayne Glowka, chairman of the New Words Committee for the American Dialect Society. He gets ideas from the general public, professors, reporters, television, newspapers and movies, he said. Before the voting in each category started, attendees were given the chance to lobby in favor or against a nomination. One man made a pitch for the word "phish" in the most-useful category. "The sooner we get this into the common vernacular, the sooner we will forget about the band (Phish)," he pleaded. Another voter drummed up support for the word "fetch" as the most useful word of 2004. "The word means cool," he said. "But it has a quasi-expletive feel to it. It's fun to say. Say it. Fetch."
• 

  Incense_and_Peppermints

  Another voter drummed up support for the word "fetch" as the most useful word of 2004.

  "The word means cool," he said. "But it has a quasi-expletive feel to it. It's fun to say. Say it. Fetch."

  i fist heard that word in the film "Mean Girls" . That's the only time i've ever seen it used, but then again i'm not 16...

  

  Gretchen: That is soooo fetch!
  Regina: Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen! It's not going to happen!
  ==

  Karen: [faux coughs] I can't so out... I'm sick.
  Regina: Boo, you whore!
  ==

  Regina: Cady, do you even know who sings this?
  Cady: Um... the Spice Girls?
  Regina: I love her. She's like a Martian!
• 

  JustTickledPink

  I think the word was

  HURRICANES!

  Or maybe just "weather channel"
• 

  Wild_Thing

  Either Blog or WMD!