The society, which includes linguists, writers, professors and grammarians, has been selecting words of prominence for the past 18 years.
Speaking about this year’s selection, Professor Wayne Glowka, chair of the new words committee, essayed a joke: “When you have investment companies losing billions of dollars over something like bundled subprime loans, then you have to consider whether it’s important. You probably also want to think about paying off that third mortgage.”
Also in contention for word of the year were “Facebook” and “Googleganger” (a person with your name who shows up when you Google yourself).
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