The American Dialect Society has voted for the 2009 word of the year and for the word of the decade. And the results are, drum rolls please, Tweet and Google. Tweet has been awarded the title of 2009 Word of the Year and Google has been nominated Word of the Decade. Tweet as in the verb “tweet” which refers to the act of sending a message on Twitter and the noun “tweet” which refers to the message you send on Twitter. And Google with the meaning “search the web” as in “Google it if you don’t believe me.”
“Both words are, in the end, products of the Information Age, where every person has the ability to satisfy curiosity and to broadcast to a select following, both via the Internet. I really thought blog would take the honors in the word of the decade category, but more people google than blog, don’t they? Plus, many people think ‘blog’ just sounds ugly. Maybe Google’s trademark lawyers would have preferred it, anyway,” commented Grant Barrett, chair of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society editorial director of online dictionary Wordnik.com.
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In case you were curious to see which other words google truped as Word of the Decade, here are the other nominees: 9/11 – pronounced “nine eleven” it refers to the terrorist attack on the twin towers. Blog – I really don’t think I have to explain this one to you, do I? Green – as in ecological or environmental conservation or protection, not the color. Text – referring to the action of sending a text message via a mobile phone, or the actual text message. War on terror – referring to the global fight on terror. Wi-Fi – the technical standards that permit the transmission of data over wireless networks
See what words were considered for the Word of the Year title and what words won in previous years here (PDF warning).
The American Dialect Society has voted for the 2009 word of the year and for the word of the decade. And the results are, drum rolls please, Tweet and Google. Tweet has been awarded the title of 2009 Word of the Year and Google has been nominated Word of the Decade. Tweet as in the verb “tweet” which refers to the act of sending a message on Twitter and the noun “tweet” which refers to the message you send on Twitter. And Google with the meaning “search the web” as in “Google it if you don’t believe me.”