Our May naming quote of the month:
“The right name is an advertisement in itself.”
Claude C. Hopkins, British Advertising Pioneer
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Our April naming quote of the month:
“A name is a mirror to capture the soul of a thing […]”
Susan Brind Morrow, American Egyptologist
The American Dialect Society has selected plutoed as its 2006 Word of the Year. To be plutoed is to be demoted or devalued, as in the case of the late planet Pluto, which has been reclassified by the International Astronomical Union as a dwarf planet.
Plutoed narrowly beat out climate canary for the honor. A climate canary is defined as “any organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon.” Climate canary did receive a consolation prize, being named the Most Useful Wordof the Year.
Other notable new terms include lactard (a person who is lactose-intolerant), to julie (to organize an event, in the manner of The Love Boat’s cruise director Julie McCoy), and snowclone (an expression who’s structure is borrowed to create new, similar expressions, e.g. X is the new Y). Snowcloning is a favorite technique of copywriters everywhere.
Founded in 1889, the American Dialect Society is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it.
The American Dialect Society has selected truthiness as its 2005 Word of the Year. Defined as putting those things you wish to be true ahead of what is known to be true, the term was recently popularized by satirist Stephen Colbert on his Comedy Central show The Colbert Report.
The Society also honored podcast as the Most Useful Word of the Year, whale tail (the exposure of the upper portion of a thong) as the Most Creative, K Fed (a nickname for Kevin Federline, the current husband of Britney Spears) as the Most Unnecessary, crotchfruit (a slang term for children, on the analogy of the term ‘fruit of one’s loins) the Most Outrageous, and sudoku (a number puzzle first popularized in Japan) as the Word Most Likely To Succeed.
Founded in 1889, the American Dialect Society is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it. Another fine group of linguists, talking tirelessly on your behalf! (Reposted)
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