Top 10 Word of the Year From Modern Oxford Dictionary

Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary and many other dictionaries, announces an Oxford Dictionaries UK Word of the Year and an Oxford Dictionaries US Word of the Year every year. It is the largest dictionary of English Language. Sometimes these are the same word. The Word of the Year need not have been coined within the past twelve months but it does need to have become prominent or notable during that time. There is no guarantee that the Word of the Year will be included in any Oxford dictionary. The Oxford Dictionaries Words of the Year are selected by editorial staff from each of the Oxford dictionaries. The selection team is made up of lexicographers and consultants to the dictionary team, and editorial, marketing, and publicity staff.

          According to the online Oxford Dictionary, the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year is a word, or expression, that we can see has attracted a great deal of interest during the year to date. Every year, candidates for Word of the Year are debated and one is eventually chosen that is judged to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that particular year and to have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance.

10. Omnishambles, the UK Word of the Year 2012.

          Omnishambles means a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, and is characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations. This word was coined by writer Tony Roche of the satirical television program, “The Thick OF It”. The word came from the Latin prefix “omni”, meaning "all", and the word “shambles”, meaning a situation of total disorder.

It gain popularity in 2012 after sustained usage in the political sphere of UK by  Labor Party leader and Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband MP, in a speech to the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions on 18 April 2012, criticizing the government's 2012 budget and the resulting public image. On 13 November 2012, Omnishambles was named Word of the Year by the Oxford English Dictionary. Lexicographer and judge on the panel Fiona McPherson remarked that: "It was a word everyone liked, which seemed to sum up so many of the events over the last 366 days in a beautiful way.” The word was formally added to the online editions of the Oxford English Dictionary in August 2013. The US Word of the year was “GIF” (verb).

9. Refudiate, the USA Word of the year 2010.

          If you are a follower of Sara Palin on Twitter since 2009, then we will undoubtedly recognize the word “Refudiate”, New Oxford American Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2010.

            Refudiate is a verb which means refuse to accept or deny the truth or validity. The word derived from Latin word “Repudiatus”. The word was first coined by the Vice President nominee in the 2008 US presidential election from the Republican Party, Sarah Palin on her twitter account in 2010. Critics pounced on Palin, lampooning what they saw as nonsensical vocabulary and speculating on whether she meant “refute” or “repudiate.” The word soon become an unquestionable buzzword in 2010.  

Vuvyzela, the annoying long horn blown by fans at FIFA World Cup 2010 was also shortlisted by the editorials staff of the Oxford Dictionary. The UK word of the year 2010 was “big society”.

8. Bovvered, the UK Word of the year 2006.

          This word was made famous by Catherine Tate as the character Lauren Cooper in The Catherine Tate Show. Used as part of her catchphrases when she was angry or embarrassed.

            "Am I bovvered? Am I bovvered though? Look at my face. Is it bovvered? Arks me If I'm bovvered! Look, face, bovvered? I ain't bovvered!"

            Bovvered refers to show sarcastically that you don’t care about something. This word became the UK Word of the Year in 2006. The US Word of the Year in 2006 was “carbon- neutral”.

7. Chav, the UK and US Word of the Year 2004.

             “Question: My neighbor has become a chav, what should I do?

            Best Answer: Shoot him or change the room and go to uptown before it is too late.”

“Picture this a young lad about 12 years of age and 4 ½ feet high baseball cap at ninety degrees in a imitation addidas tracksuit, with trouser legs tucked into his socks (of course, is definitely the height of fashion). This lad is strutting around, fag in one hand jewellery al over the over, outside McDonalds acting as if he is 8 foot tall and built like a rugby player, when some poor unsuspecting adult (about 17/18) walks round the corner wanting to go to mcdonalds for his dinner glances at the young lad, the young lad jumps up in complete disgust and says “Whats your problem? Wanna make sommin of it? Bling Bling” when the adult starts to walk towards the young lad, the young lad pisses himself and runs off to either his pregnant 14-year-old girlfriend or his brother in the army crying his eyes out.” – Urban Dictionary.

            “Chav” refers to an informal British derogatory meaning a young lower class person who displays brash and loutish behavior and wears real or imitation designer clothes. It was designated as the Word of the Year in 2004 Oxford University Press not only in the UK but also in US also. So beware of chavs.

6.  Selfie, the UK and US Word of the Year 2013.

          On 19 November, 2013 Oxford Dictionaries announced that their Word of the Year for 2013 is “selfie”, which means "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website."

According to Oxford research, the use of the word “selfie” has increased by 17,000% since this time last year. “Selfie” can actually be traced back to 2002 when it was used in an Australian online forum.  The word gained momentum throughout the English-speaking world in 2013 as it evolved from a social media buzzword to mainstream shorthand for a self-portrait photograph. “Selfie” was added to online Oxford Dictionary in August of 2013.

5. Hypermiling, the US Word of the Year 2008.

              Considering how much we wrote about “hypermiling” in the past year, it's no big surprise that it has been picked as the Word of the year in 2008 by the New Oxford American Dictionary. The word “hypermilling” is a noun which refers to the practice of making adjustments to a vehicle or using driving techniques that will maximize the vehicle’s fuel economy. The word “hypermiling” has been around since 2004. The people who do the activity of hypermiling are called as hypermillers. The word, “credit crunsh” was the UK Word of the Year 2008.

4. Podcast, the US Word of the Year 2005.

          The word “Podcast” became the New Oxford American Dictionary’s Word of the year 2005. The word beat words like “bird flu” and “IED” in the race to reach the top.

            Podcast refers to a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player. The word comes from joining “broadcasting” and “iPod”. However, the term is a little misleading as Apple Computers, which makes the iPod, had little to do with the original podcasting technology. “Sudoko” became the UK Word of the year for year.

3. Locavore, the US Word of the Year 2007.

          The word "locavore" was the word of the year for 2007 in the Oxford American Dictionary. This word was the creation of Jessica Prentice of the San Francisco Bay Area at the time of World Environment Day 2005.

            The word “locavore” refers to a person whose diet consists only or principally of locally grown or produced food. The popularization of a trend in using locally grown ingredients, taking advantage of seasonally available foodstuffs that can be bought and prepared without the need for extra preservatives, which popularized the word “locavore”. “Carbon footprint” was the UK Word of the Year of 2007.

2. Squeezed middle, the UK and US Word of the Year 2011.

           Squeezed middle was the Word of the Year 2011 for both UK and US. The term was originally coined by Ed Miliband when speaking to BBC Radio, where he failed to clearly define who the “squeezed middle” exactly included, saying it referred to people “around the average income, but below and above the average income.”

            But Oxford define it as “the section of society regarded as particularly affected by inflation, wage freezes and cuts in public spending during a time of economic difficulty, consisting principally of those on low or middle incomes”. Squeezed Middle beat word like “occupy”, “podcasting”, “hacktivism”, “Arab Spring”, and my favorite “bunga bunga”. Bunga bunga used in reference to Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s scandalous parties.

1. Unfriend, the US Word of the Year 2009.

         In today’s world social networking means total connectivity. We all have used the popular social networking Facebook, there we can find “unfriend” button. But do you know that with the popularity of the Facebook, the word “unfriend” become so popular that it become the US Word of the year in 2009.

          Unfriend was defined as a verb that means to remove someone as a "friend" on a social networking site such as Facebook. In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year. Other words that deemed finalists for 2009 in technology are “hastag”, “intexticated” and sexting”. "Hashtag," which is the hash sign added to a word or phrase that lets the Twitter users search for tweets similarly tagged, "intexticated" for when people are distracted by texting while driving, and "sexting," which is the sending of sexually explicit SMSes and pictures by cellphone. The UK Word of the year 2009 was “simples”.