short takes

[Ben Zimmer]

On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 7:30 AM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>
> 15) I thought this has been commented on before, but I can't find the
> relevant references. One current use of the verb "trend" and the
> corresponding "trending" is to identify things that are becoming
> "trendy", i.e., whose popularity is rising. Given that no example of the
> verb in the OED is past 1901, there should be no surprise that this is
> not covered.
>
> http://goo.gl/trccs
> > 'Eat It, Don't Tweet It' Music Video Smackdown Is Trending
>
> http://goo.gl/lgFVW
> > Stockholm's Lunch Beat dance is trending
>
> http://goo.gl/nVZMc
> [@bbcapprentice]
> > Tap Cosy is trending worldwide! Seems to have struck a chord with
> > viewers... #theapprentice

This use of "trend" as a verb was voted Most Likely to Succeed in the
2010 ADS WOTY proceedings. It was subsequently covered (along with
other nominated words) in the Summer 2011 installment of "Among the
New Words" in _American Speech_, with citations from 2009 on.

http://www.americandialect.org/American-Dialect-Society-2010-Word-of-the-Year-PRESS-RELEASE.pdf
http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/content/86/2/192.citation

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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