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And the Word of the Year is…

oxfordCould it be green? Recovery? Economy? No, yesterday the New Oxford American Dictionary announced its word of the year is “unfriend.” Defined as “verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.” Or, according to Urban Dictionary, “One of the many ways to bitch slap someone on ‘Teh Interweb.'” Notable finalists include “intexticated,” “sexting,” “teabagger (a person who protests President Obama’s tax policies and stimulus package),” and “deleb (a dead celebrity).” I think that this is an excellent tradition, and I decided to compile a list of my favorite historical words of the year, which are telling signs of each era’s zeitgeist:

  • migrant labour (1913)
  • male chauvinism (1936)
  • tween-age (1938)
  • passion killers – unattractive underwear which was standard issue in wartime. (1943)
  • Watergate (1972)
  • F-word (1973) (’72 and ’73s word used in conjunction)
  • to e-mail (1987)
  • metrosexual (1994)
  • Viagra (1996)
  • to sex something up (2003)
  • bovvered (2006)

What’s your favorite contribution Oxford Dictionary has made to the English language? Check out some new words being added here. Maybe you’ll be able to use one on your next term paper!

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About the Author

Noah Simmons

Noah is an International Politics major minoring in French. Noah participates in the Mock Trial team, the Sailing Team, and is the president/founder of the Odyssey of the Mind club. Besides pushing the limit of what is journalistically acceptable, Noah enjoys long walks on the beach and football. In a previous lifetime he was William Wallace

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