In its 19th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted “bailout” as the word of the year. In the specific sense used most frequently in 2008, bailout refers to the rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry.
Presiding at the Jan. 9 voting session were ADS Executive Secretary Allan Metcalf of MacMurray College, and Grant Barrett, chair of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society and co-host of the nationwide public radio show A Way with Words. Barrett is also the incoming editor of the column “Among the New Words” in the society’s quarterly academic journal American Speech.
“When you vote for bailout, I guess you’re really voting for ‘hope’ and ‘change,’ too,” Barrett said. “Though you’d think a room full of pointy-headed intellectuals could come up with something more exciting.”
Download the 2008 Word of the Year press release: PDF, Microsoft Word.
Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as “vocabulary item”—not just words but phrases. The words or phrases do not have to be brand-new, but they have to be newly prominent or notable in the past year, in the manner of Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
The vote is the longest-running such vote anywhere, the only one not tied to commercial interests, and the word-of-the-year event up to which all others lead. It is fully informed by the members’ expertise in the study of words, but it is far from a solemn occasion. Members in the 119-year-old organization include linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, university students, and independent scholars. In conducting the vote, they act in fun and do not pretend to be officially inducting words into the English language. Instead they are highlighting that language change is normal, ongoing, and entertaining.
In a companion vote, sibling organization the American Name Society voted “Barack Hussein Obama” as Name of the Year for 2008 in its fifth annual name-of-the-year contest.
AMERICAN DIALECT SOCIETY VOTE TALLIES
The number after each nomination is the number of votes it received. Numbers separated by slash marks indicate a run-off. Voting totals are for each category might not be identical because the number of voters might have changed for each category.
WORD OF THE YEAR WINNER: bailout, the rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry. 37/74
Other nominees for word of the year:
Barack Obama: Both names as combining forms in a large number of new words. A combining form is a word or part of a word that can be used as the root or basis of other words. 28/43
lipstick on a pig: An adornment of something that can’t be made pretty. 16
change: Not so much a buzzword as political wallpaper, background noise, and ambient energy rolled into one. The idea of discarding old ideas and methods seemed to underlie everything said by national political candidates. 14
shovel-ready: Used to describe infrastructure projects that can be started quickly when funds become available 5
game-changer: In business and politics, something that alters the nature of a marketplace, relationship, or campaign. From sports ‘something that changes a match or contest.’ 2
—MOST USEFUL—
WINNER: Barack Obama: Both names as combining forms. 41/72
text(ing), in driving while texting (DWT), the sending of text messages while conducting and automobile, and textwalker, a person who texts while walking. 38/34
bailout: The rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry. 14
Palinesque: Pertaining to a person who has extended themselves beyond their expertise, thereby bringing ridicule upon a serious matter. 11
—MOST CREATIVE—
WINNER: recombobulation area: An area at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee in which passengers that have just passed through security screening can get their clothes and belongings back in order. 94
long photo: A video of 90 seconds or less. Used by the photo-sharing web site Flickr. 5
skadoosh: A nonsense interjection popularized by Jack Black in the movie Kung Fu Panda. 3
rofflenui: A blended New Zealand English-Maori word that means “rolling on the floor laughing a lot.” 1
—MOST UNNECESSARY—
WINNER: moofing: From “mobile out of office,” meaning working on the go with a laptop and cell phone. Created by a PR firm. 35/53
First Dude: The husband of a governor or president. 36/43
bromance: A very close relationship between two heterosexual men. 28
—Most OutrageouS—
WINNER: terrorist fist jab: A knuckle-to-knuckle fist bump, or “dap,” traditionally performed between two black people as a sign of friendship, celebration or agreement. It was called the “terrorist fist jab” by the newscaster E. D. Hill, formerly of Fox News. 88
body-snarking: Posting pictures and commenting negatively on the bodies of the people in them. 10
fish pedicure: A cosmetic procedure in which fish eat the dead skin off the feet. 9
baby mama: From a man’s point of view, a woman to whom he is not married and who is the mother of his child. 2
—MOST EUPHEMISTIC—
WINNER: scooping technician: A person whose job it is to pick up dog poop. 6