14 January 2009

2008 Words of the Year

Word Nerd's a bit tardy on sharing these this year, but she still finds it interesting to see what words topped dictionary lists in 2008.

For Merriam-Webster, the word of the year was "bailout," a sure sign of the financial/political times we're in.

The release and the other top ten words can be found here.

The Oxford New American Dictionary crowned their own 2008 word of the year, and it's also a sure sign of the times. Their top pick is "hypermiling." Word Nerd knows, she's never heard it either. According to the dictionary's website, "hypermiling" means: to attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques. Rather than aiming for good mileage or even great mileage, hypermilers seek to push their gas tanks to the limit and achieve hypermileage, exceeding EPA ratings for miles per gallon.

Can somebody bailout us out of this crazy lexicon lesson?

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