WOTY
Or Word of the Year – supplied by and according to the Oxford American Dictionary.
About this time each year – The Oxford American Dictionary throws a bash for its biggest announcement before the year-end holidays. So while you may be the type of person who gives a standing ovation for it and cannot wait for it’s imminent announcement, or perhaps you are the type who mutilates it with choice profanities and clever dick comments (and there are plenty of these types), it continues to occur year in and year out ….. “The Word of Year”
So without further interruption, the WOTY for 2009 is “Unfriend”
And to celebrate its victory in true old-fashioned dictionary style … a dictionary description…
unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook. Example “I have decided to unfriend an old flame on Facebook because we just seem to have zilch in common.”
In the social networking setting “unfriend” is most probably completely understood. The Oxford Dictionary USA has made quite an out of the ordinary choice of “un” prefixed words by commemorating it as a modern verb; usually these “un” prefixed words would be adjectives such as unlikable or undesirable. Having said that, there are recognizable “un” verbs such as unload or unseal but wow, “unfriend” is somewhat different from the usual.
So I found my mind trying to decide if there wasn’t a better way to say it, having racked my brains for what I would usually call this action – perhaps something like “defriend” and upon enquiry it seems there are masses of folk who actually do “get-rid-of” friends by say “defriend” and many of them have vehemently argued that “defriend” is the acceptable word…. however, if you go to our good friends Google for some more information on this debate…. this is what happens – Google hits: defriend 46 300 unfriend: 393 000. I guess “unfriend” wins hands down, although it also clearly depends on where in the world you hang.
The other thing worth a little mention while we are at it, in years past the WOTY has generally always focused on more solemn and justifiable issues …. Words like global warming and hypermiling… (oh… stop being slothful, go look it up). The fact that the WOTY has focused its 2009 winning word on societal media proves that social networking is actually quite a solemn and justifiable affair….. or not? For more info on this point read: http://popculture2point0.wordpress.com/
If you are wondering what other technology themed words were considered for the New Oxford American Dictionary 2009 Word of the Year? Check out the list:-
- hashtag – a # [hash] sign added to a word or phrase that enables Twitter users to search for tweets (postings on the Twitter site) that contain similarly tagged items and view thematic sets
- intexticated – distracted because texting on a cellphone while driving a vehicle netbook – a small, very portable laptop computer with a limited memory
- paywall – a way of blocking access to a part of a website which is only available to paying subscribers
- sexting – the sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by cellphone
PS: My spell check still does not recognise “unfriend” as a real word.
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