The Oxford English Dictionary has chosen its (two-word) word of the year: Squeezed Middle. Last year's word of the year was big society, and the word of 2009 was unfriend. Those who spend time on Twitter might have guessed that OWS, occupy or 99% would have come out on top this year. They didn't come out on top, but they did make the shortlist, alongside some notable tech buzzwords. Gamification, clicktivism and crowdfunding made the U.S. shortlist, while hacktivism, sodcasting (playing music on your phone's speaker in a public place) and -- not surprisingly -- phone hacking made the UK list.
[More from Mashable: Retweet & Sexting Are Now Words In Oxford English Dictionary]
Here's the full U.S. shortlist for 2011's word of the year, along with OED definitions:
- Arab Spring: A series of anti-government uprisings in various countries in North Africa and the Middle East, beginning in Tunisia in December 2010.
- Bunga bunga: Used in reference to parties hosted by the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, at which various illicit sexual activities were alleged to have taken place.
- Clicktivism: The use of social media and other online methods to promote a cause.
- Crowdfunding: The practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.
- Fracking: The forcing open of fissures in subterranean rocks by introducing liquid at high pressure, especially to extract oil or gas.
- Gamification: The application of concepts and techniques from games to other areas of activity, for instance as an online marketing technique.
- Occupy: The name given to an international movement protesting against perceived economic injustice by occupying buildings or public places and staying there for an extended period of time.
- The 99%: The bottom 99% of income earners, regarded collectively.
- Tiger mother: A demanding mother who pushes her children to high achievement using methods regarded as typical of Asian childrearing.
- Sifi: A bank or other financial institution regarded as so vital to the functioning of the overall economy that it cannot be allowed to fail, a.k.a. "systemically important financial institution."
The English language is ever evolving. Retweet and sexting were added to the dictionary in August, and earlier this year, Oxford acknowledged LOL, .
[More from Mashable: Is Phone Hacking Ever Justified? [OPEN THREAD]]
This story originally published on Mashable here.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20111126/tc_mashable/tech_buzzwords_make_shortlist_for_word_of_the_year
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