Top Words of the Year
Encyclopedia
Since 2000, the Global Language Monitor
(GLM) has been selecting the Top Ten Words, Phrases and Names of the Year. To select these words and phrases it uses a statistical analysis of language usage in the worldwide print and electronic media, on the Internet and throughout the Blogosphere, including Social media
.
GLM announced its Top Words of the Year for 2011 on November 9, 2010. The Word of the Year was 'Occupy'. The Top Phrase of the Year was 'Arab Spring
'. The Top Name of the Year was 'Steve Jobs
'.
The Top Words of 2011 (WOTY)
Rank/Word/Comments
The Top Phrases of 2011
Rank/Word/Comments
The Top Names of 2011
Rank / Name / Comments
Top Words of the Decade
Climate Change
was top phrase; Heroes
was the top name of the first decade of the 21st century.
Previous Words of the Year include:
2010:
Top Words: No. 1 Spillcam, No. 2 Vuvuzela
, No. 3 The Narrative
Top Phrases: No. 1 Anger and Rage, No. 2 Climate Change
, No. 3 The Great Recession
Top Names: No. 1 Hu Jintao
, paramount leader of hina, No. 2 iPad
, No. 3 Barack Obama
2009:
Top Words: No. 1 Twitter
, No. 2 Obama-, No. 3 H1N1
Top Phrases: No. 1 King of Pop, No. 2 Obama-mania, No. 3 Climate Change
Top Names: No. 1 Obama
, No. 2 Michael Jackson
, No. 3 Mobama
2008:
Top Words: No. 1 Change
, No. 2 Bailout , No. 3 Obama-mania
Top Phrases: No. 1 Financial Tsunami , No. 2 Global Warming
, No. 3 “Yes, We Can! ”
Top Names: No. 1 Barack Obama
, No. 2 George W. Bush
, No.3 Michael Phelps
2007:
Top Words: No. 1 Hybrid
(representing all things green), No. 2: Surge
Top Phrase: Climate Change
Top Name: Al Gore
2006:
Top Word: Sustainable
Top Phrase: Stay the Course
Top Name: Dafur
2005:
Top Words: No. 1, Refugee
No. 2: Tsunami
No. 3: Katrina
Top Phrase: Outside the Mainstream
Top Name: (acts of ) God
2004:
Top Word: Incivility (for inCivil War)
Top Phrase: Red States/Blue States No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Dubya/Rove
2003:
Top Word: Embedded
Top Phrase: Shock and Awe , No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Saddam Hussein
, No. 2 Dubya
2002:
Top Word: Misunderestimate
Top Phrase: Threat Fatigue
Top Name: W (Dubya)
2001:
Top Word: Ground Zero
Top Phrase: ‘Lets Roll’
Top Name: The Heros
2000:
Top Word: Chad
Top Phrase: Dot.com
Top Name: W (Dubya)
Global Language Monitor
The Global Language Monitor is an Austin, Texas-based company that collectively documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language...
(GLM) has been selecting the Top Ten Words, Phrases and Names of the Year. To select these words and phrases it uses a statistical analysis of language usage in the worldwide print and electronic media, on the Internet and throughout the Blogosphere, including Social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
.
GLM announced its Top Words of the Year for 2011 on November 9, 2010. The Word of the Year was 'Occupy'. The Top Phrase of the Year was 'Arab Spring
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
'. The Top Name of the Year was 'Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
'.
The Top Words of 2011 (WOTY)
Rank/Word/Comments
- Occupy – ‘Occupy’ has risen to pre-eminence through Occupy Movement, the occupation of Iraq, and the so-called ‘Occupied Territories’.
- DeficitDeficitA government budget deficit is the amount by which some measure of government revenues falls short of some measure of government spending.If a government is running a positive budget deficit, it is also said to be running a negative budget surplus .-Primary deficit, total deficit, and debt:The...
– Growing and possibly intractable problem for the economies of the developed world. - Fracking – Hydraulic fracturing is a controversial method for extracting fossil fuels from hitherto unreachable deposits.
- DroneDrone-Nature:The male sex of social Hymenopterans, such as a* Drone * male wasp* male ant-Chemicals:An abbreviation referring to one of two psychoactive drugs:* Mephedrone* 4-Methoxymethcathinone, commonly known as methedrone-Vehicles:...
– The ever increasing number of remotely piloted aircraft used for reconnaissance and attack purposes. - Non-veg – A meal served with meat, originally from India, now catching on worldwide.
- Kummerspeck – From the German seeing wider acceptance in the English, excess weight gained from emotional overeating (grief bacon).
- HaboobHaboobA haboob is a type of intense duststorm carried on an atmospheric gravity current. Haboobs are regularly observed in arid regions throughout the world. They have been observed in the Sahara desert , as well as across the Arabian Peninsula, throughout Kuwait, and in the most arid regions of Iraq...
– A name imported from the Arabic for massive sandstorms in the American Southwest. - 3Q – Near universal term for ‘thank you’ now earning additional status after being banned from official Chinese dictionaries. Another example of the ever increasing mixing of numbers and letters to form words.
- Trustafarians – Well-to-do youth (trust-funders) living a faux-Bohemian life style, now associated with the London Riots.
- (The Other) 9999Year 99 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Palma and Senecio...
– Referring to the majority of those living in Western Democracies who are left out of the dramatic rise in earnings associated with “the Top 1%”.
The Top Phrases of 2011
Rank/Word/Comments
- Arab SpringArab SpringThe Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
– The series of uprisings, social protests, and rebellions occurring among many nations of the Arab World beginning this spring. - Royal WeddingRoyal WeddingRoyal Wedding is a 1951 Hollywood musical comedy film known for Fred Astaire's dance performance on a ceiling and another with a coat rack. The story is set in London in 1947 at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and stars Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah...
– The wedding of the former Kate Middleton and heir-to-the-British-Throne, Prince William that captivated millions around the world. - Anger and Rage – Characterizations of the global electorate by the pundits, though closer analyses has revealed more frustration than anger and more disappointment than rage.
- Climate ChangeClimate changeClimate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
– No. 1 phrase for the first decade of the 21st century; still resonates into its second decade. - The Great Recession – Though officially over, the media term most frequently used to describe the on-going global economic restructuring.
- Tahrir Square – The scene of the ‘25th of January’ demonstrations in Cairo against Hosni Mubarak.
- Linear No Threshold (LNT) – The methodology to calculate risk from exposure to radioactive elements from the Fukushima Daiiachi disaster.
- Bunga Bunga – Re-emerged in the language through ‘bunga-bunga’ parties hosted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
- ‘How’s that working out for you?’ – The New York Times credits Sarah Palin, but it predates her use of the phrase by several decades.
- “Make no mistake about it!” – President Obama has repeated the phrase thousands of times since his 2008 election.
The Top Names of 2011
Rank / Name / Comments
- Steve JobsSteve JobsSteven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
– The citations for Steve Jobs topped those for No. 2 (Osama bin-Laden and Seal Team 6) by more than 30%. - Osama bin-Laden & Seal Team 6 – Who changed the world more? Al-qaeda or Steve Jobs?
- FukushimaFukushimamay refer to:*Fukushima City – the capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan*Fukushima Prefecture – a Japanese prefecture*Two nuclear power plants located in Fukushima Prefecture:**Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant...
– The epicenter of the Japanese Triple Disaster (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown). - Mohamed BouaziziMohamed BouaziziMohamed Bouazizi was a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire on 17 December 2010, in protest of the confiscation of his wares and the harassment and humiliation that he reported was inflicted on him by a municipal official and her aides...
– the Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself afire and became the symbol of Tunisian resistance – and the Arab spring. - Chinese Paramount Leader Hu JintaoHu JintaoHu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
– The Rise of the Tiger being a primary cause of the Global Economic Restructuring. - Kate MiddletonKate MiddletonCatherine, Duchess of Cambridge , is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. The Duke of Cambridge is second in line to the thrones of the sixteen Commonwealth realms and, when he becomes king , she will become queen consort...
– She captivated the world with her elegance and style and continues to do so as the Duchess of Cambridge. - Muammar GaddafiMuammar GaddafiMuammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
– Libyan strongman toppled in the recent insurrection. - President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
– Hope and Change retreat further into the history books; the game plan is now for survival. - PIIGS – The nations of Portugal, Ireland, Italy Greece and Spain taken together for their untenable deficits possibly affecting the economic health of the Eurozone.
- Yaroslavl Lokomotiv – The ill-fated elite Russian hockey team that was virtually wiped out in the crash of a three-engine Yak-42.
Top Words of the Decade
- Global WarmingGlobal warmingGlobal warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
- 9/11
- ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
- Bailout
- Evacuee,
- DerivativeDerivativeIn calculus, a branch of mathematics, the derivative is a measure of how a function changes as its input changes. Loosely speaking, a derivative can be thought of as how much one quantity is changing in response to changes in some other quantity; for example, the derivative of the position of a...
- GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
- SurgeSurgeSurge was a citrus soft drink first introduced in Norway, under the name Urge , by the Coca-Cola Company to compete with Pepsi's Mountain Dew.-History:...
- ChinglishChinglishChinglish refers to spoken or written English language that is influenced by the Chinese language. The term "Chinglish" is commonly applied to ungrammatical or nonsensical English in Chinese contexts, and may have pejorative or deprecating connotations, reflecting the attitudes of those who apply...
- TsunamiTsunamiA tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
Climate Change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
was top phrase; Heroes
Heroes
Heroes may refer to:* Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good- Television :Series* Heroes , a 2006–2010 American science fiction series* Heroes , a 2010 South Korean variety Show...
was the top name of the first decade of the 21st century.
Previous Words of the Year include:
2010:
Top Words: No. 1 Spillcam, No. 2 Vuvuzela
Vuvuzela
The vuvuzela , also known as lepatata Mambu , colloquially known in South Africa as "Moerstripper", is a plastic horn, about long, which produces a loud monotone note, typically around B3 . Some models are made in two parts to facilitate storage, and this design also allows pitch variation...
, No. 3 The Narrative
Top Phrases: No. 1 Anger and Rage, No. 2 Climate Change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, No. 3 The Great Recession
Top Names: No. 1 Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
, paramount leader of hina, No. 2 iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
, No. 3 Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
2009:
Top Words: No. 1 Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, No. 2 Obama-, No. 3 H1N1
H1N1
'Influenza A virus is a subtype of influenza A virus and was the most common cause of human influenza in 2009. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and cause a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a small fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused a few percent of...
Top Phrases: No. 1 King of Pop, No. 2 Obama-mania, No. 3 Climate Change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
Top Names: No. 1 Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, No. 2 Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, No. 3 Mobama
2008:
Top Words: No. 1 Change
Change
Change may refer to:- The process of becoming different:* Social change* Biological metamorphosis* Change , the mathematical study of change* Percentage change, in statistics* Fold change, in statistics...
, No. 2 Bailout , No. 3 Obama-mania
Top Phrases: No. 1 Financial Tsunami , No. 2 Global Warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, No. 3 “Yes, We Can! ”
Top Names: No. 1 Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, No. 2 George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, No.3 Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals—six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions...
2007:
Top Words: No. 1 Hybrid
Hybrid
In biology and specifically, genetics, the term hybrid has several meanings, all referring to the offspring of sexual reproduction.#In general usage, hybrid is synonymous with heterozygous: any offspring resulting from the mating of two distinctly homozygous individuals#a genetic hybrid carries two...
(representing all things green), No. 2: Surge
Surge
Surge was a citrus soft drink first introduced in Norway, under the name Urge , by the Coca-Cola Company to compete with Pepsi's Mountain Dew.-History:...
Top Phrase: Climate Change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
Top Name: Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
2006:
Top Word: Sustainable
Top Phrase: Stay the Course
Top Name: Dafur
2005:
Top Words: No. 1, Refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
No. 2: Tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
No. 3: Katrina
Top Phrase: Outside the Mainstream
Top Name: (acts of ) God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
2004:
Top Word: Incivility (for inCivil War)
Top Phrase: Red States/Blue States No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Dubya/Rove
2003:
Top Word: Embedded
Embedded
- In science :* In mathematics, embedding is one instance of some mathematical object contained within another instance** Graph embedding* In computing, an embedded system is a special-purpose system in which the computer is completely encapsulated by the device it controls* In computing, embedding...
Top Phrase: Shock and Awe , No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, No. 2 Dubya
2002:
Top Word: Misunderestimate
Top Phrase: Threat Fatigue
Top Name: W (Dubya)
2001:
Top Word: Ground Zero
Ground zero
The term ground zero describes the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation...
Top Phrase: ‘Lets Roll’
Top Name: The Heros
2000:
Top Word: Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
Top Phrase: Dot.com
Top Name: W (Dubya)