Sunday, December 30, 2012

Picking the Word of the Year


There was an interesting story on NPR the other day - Let's Double Down On A Superstorm Of Malarkey: Picking 2012's Word Of The Year.

This is the time of year when the American Dialect Society selects and announces its Word of the Year - a word or phrase which achieved particular prominence during the past year, whether for positive or negative reasons. Previous winners of the Word of the Year title are occupy (2011), app (2010), and tweet (2009). The "Word of the Decade" for the first ten years of the 21st century was google.

Among the many words and phrases that are contending for the honor this year are:

Superstorm or Frankenstorm (designations attached to Hurricane Sandy, although Frankenstorm was considered by many to be overly kitschy for such a huge disaster);

Malarkey (memorably used by Vice President Biden in his debate with Paul Ryan; a more common but less gentlemanly synonym is bullshit);

Fiscal Cliff (you know, the one our brain-dead Congressional lemmings are racing stupidly toward); and,

47% (the imaginary figure cited by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney as the percentage of the US population dependent on government handouts).

I have my own nominee, of course ...

Ass Clown (I know that this is a term of several years standing, but so many individuals and groups are clamoring for designation as ass clowns that it seems reasonable to nominate it for Word of the Year).

What are your suggestions for Word of the Year, Dear Readers? Leave a comment, and be sure to explain why you think it is deserving of this prestigious honor.

And speaking of ass clowns, don't forget that tomorrow night at 11:59 PM the voting closes in our contest for Ass Clown of the Year. The balloting is starting to pick up as we approach the deadline, and some clear front-runners are emerging. The top three so far are:

NRA President Wayne LaPierre, who has taken a commanding lead;

The GOP, in a strong second place but still substantially trailing Mr LaPierre; and,

The Iowa Supreme Court, surging to an unexpectedly strong third place following its decision last week upholding the right of an employer to fire a worker for being "irresistible."

Be sure to cast your votes ... and your friends' votes ... and your pets', imaginary playmates', and deceased relatives' votes, too. Remember, Chicago Rules apply, so vote early and vote often to make sure your voice is heard amid the screaming and howling as we go over the fiscal cliff.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

10 comments:

Chrissy said...

Ok, I am going against all rules here and nominating words/phrases that I would like to see banished in 2013!
1.) Gangnam style. The song is awful ... the phrase is worse!
2.) Mommy porn. Just because 50 shades of grey readers are mainly women ... doesn't mean it's "mommy porn." And is that implying that ALL OTHER PORN is 'daddy porn'???

(End Rant) :)

eViL pOp TaRt said...

App seems okay. Gangham style needs to go.

Wayne LaPierre is a clown!

Kristen Drittsekkdatter said...

Years agho, after the movie, the expression "Perfect Storm" was used generically, like a perfect storm of protest or a perfect storm of idiocy. Like Congress.

Mike said...

5 more votes for Wayne.

And no words stick out for me this year. I looked at last year and only recognized half of them. I wish I would have heard about - assholocracy - government by obnoxious multi-millionaires.

Mike said...

@Chrissy - Next time you're listening to Gangnam style, see if you can hear the words condom star instead. That's what I thought he was saying. I still hear condom star.

Duckbutt said...

Nobody ever found me irresistable when I was working. Apparently, that's a job perk for executives!

allenwoodhaven said...

The birds at our bird feeder think that Wayne LaPierre is the one most deserving of being ass clown of the year, as they want fewer guns so they have a better chance of not being shot. Amazing that so many humans seem to have thought of that angle. It was hard to keep an accurate count but, conservatively, that's 15 votes for him.

I agree but the Iowa Supreme court's decision is so incredibly outrageous that I have to cast 5 votes for them (for myself and women I know). If you'd let me Bilbo, I'd cast one vote for every woman in the country, minus about 15 percent for those who would seem to have no clue like Ann Coulter. (By the way, has anyone heard if this case may be submitted to the US Supreme Court? It should be!)

I bet Mitt Romney wishes that the Republicans could have voted Chicago style...

allenwoodhaven said...

I meant to say "so few humans seem to have thought of that angle". Oops!

Bilbo said...

Chrissy - noted! BTW, I read the 50 Shades trilogy. Waste of time.

Angel - right on all counts!

Kristen - yep!

Mike - "condom star"? I think you need to change your meds.

Duck - I agree.

Allen - I think I have to draw the line at the vote for every woman in the country, although your comment about Ann Coulter was spot on. Mr LaPierre is, indeed, for the birds.

The Mistress of the Dark said...

I like Malarkey, but that's such an old word!