The Top Word Of 2009. They may not have figured out how to monetize it, but they certainly have made its name iconic. The Global Language Monitor, which tracks language trends, has released its annual global survey of the English language. This includes not just the most popular words, but the most popular phrases as well. This year, the word Twitter is the Top Word of 2009.
Last year, the most popular word was "change," obviously pointed at the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign. This year, seeming following in the footsteps of the Oxford American Dictionary (which named "unfriend" its word of the year), the Global Language Monitor has gone techie with Twitter.
Pointing to the ubiquity of Twitter during breaking events worldwide, Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor said:
"In a year dominated by world-shaking political events, a pandemic, the after effects of a financial tsunami and the death of a revered pop icon, the word Twitter stands above all the other words. Twitter represents a new form of social interaction, where all communication is reduced to 140 characters. Being limited to strict formats did wonders for the sonnet and haiku. One wonders where this highly impractical word-limit will lead as the future unfolds."
The global word analysis was completed in late November using the GLM’s Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI). The PQI tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet, in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum and "velocity."
Here are the results, including words, phrases and names, along with GLM commentary.
The Top Words of 2009
1. Twitter — The ability to encapsulate human thought in 140 characters
2. Obama — The word stem transforms into scores of new words like ObamaCare
3. H1N1 — The formal (and politically correct) name for Swine Flu
4. Stimulus — The $800 billion aid package meant to help mend the US economy
5. Vampire — Vampires are very much en vogue, now the symbol of unrequited love
6. 2.0 — The 2.0 suffix is attached to the next generation of everything
7. Deficit — Lessons from history are dire warnings here
8. Hadron — Ephemeral particles subject to collision in the Large Hadron Collider
9. Healthcare— The direction of which is the subject of intense debate in the US
10. Transparency — Elusive goal for which many 21st c. governments are striving
11. Outrage — In response to large bonuses handed out to ‘bailed-out’ companies
12. Bonus — The incentive pay packages that came to symbolize greed and excess
13. Unemployed — And underemployed amount to close to 20% of US workforce
14. Foreclosure — Forced eviction for not keeping up with the mortgage payments
15. Cartel — In Mexico, at the center of the battle over drug trafficking
The Top Phrases of 2009
Last year, the most popular word was "change," obviously pointed at the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign. This year, seeming following in the footsteps of the Oxford American Dictionary (which named "unfriend" its word of the year), the Global Language Monitor has gone techie with Twitter.
Pointing to the ubiquity of Twitter during breaking events worldwide, Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor said:
"In a year dominated by world-shaking political events, a pandemic, the after effects of a financial tsunami and the death of a revered pop icon, the word Twitter stands above all the other words. Twitter represents a new form of social interaction, where all communication is reduced to 140 characters. Being limited to strict formats did wonders for the sonnet and haiku. One wonders where this highly impractical word-limit will lead as the future unfolds."
The global word analysis was completed in late November using the GLM’s Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI). The PQI tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet, in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum and "velocity."
Here are the results, including words, phrases and names, along with GLM commentary.
The Top Words of 2009
1. Twitter — The ability to encapsulate human thought in 140 characters
2. Obama — The word stem transforms into scores of new words like ObamaCare
3. H1N1 — The formal (and politically correct) name for Swine Flu
4. Stimulus — The $800 billion aid package meant to help mend the US economy
5. Vampire — Vampires are very much en vogue, now the symbol of unrequited love
6. 2.0 — The 2.0 suffix is attached to the next generation of everything
7. Deficit — Lessons from history are dire warnings here
8. Hadron — Ephemeral particles subject to collision in the Large Hadron Collider
9. Healthcare— The direction of which is the subject of intense debate in the US
10. Transparency — Elusive goal for which many 21st c. governments are striving
11. Outrage — In response to large bonuses handed out to ‘bailed-out’ companies
12. Bonus — The incentive pay packages that came to symbolize greed and excess
13. Unemployed — And underemployed amount to close to 20% of US workforce
14. Foreclosure — Forced eviction for not keeping up with the mortgage payments
15. Cartel — In Mexico, at the center of the battle over drug trafficking
The Top Phrases of 2009
- King of Pop –Elvis was ‘The King;’ MJ had to settle for ‘King of Pop’
- Obama-mania — One of the scores of words from the Obama-word stem
- Climate Change — Considered politically neutral compared to global warming
- Swine Flu — Popular name for the illness caused by the H1N1 virus
- Too Large to Fail — Institutions that are deemed necessary for financial stability
- Cloud Computing — Using the Internet for a variety of computer services
- Public Option — The ability to buy health insurance from a government entity
- Jai Ho! — A Hindi shout of joy or accomplishment
- Mayan Calendar — Consists of various ‘cycles,’ one of which ends on 12/21/2012
- God Particle — The hadron, believed to hold the secrets of the Big Bang
- Barack Obama — It was Obama’s year, though MJ nearly eclipsed in the end
- Michael Jackson — Eclipses Obama on internet though lags in traditional media
- Mobama — Mrs. Obama, sometimes as a fashion Icon
- Large Hadron Collider — The Trillion dollar ‘aton smasher’ buried outside Geneva
- Neda Agha Sultan — Iranian woman killed in the post-election demonstrations
- Nancy Pelosi –The Democratic Speaker of the US House
- M. Ahmadinejad — The president of Iran, once again
- Hamid Karzai — The winner of Afghanistan’s disputed election
- Rahm Emmanuel — Bringing ‘Chicago-style politics’ to the Administration
- Sonia Sotomayor — The first Hispanic woman on the US Supreme Court
( technologyexpert.blogspot.com )
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