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<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The word
of the year “w00t”* chosen by Merriam-Webster is a very interesting
one (see the article below). Food for thought – sociologically speaking!
In other countries (like <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>)
every year a “word of the year” and an “unword of the year”
is chosen. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s
word of the year 2007 “Bundestrojaner” (literal translation: ‘Federal
Trojan’, also called in a less threatening way “remote forensic
software,“ is a word used for spyware), also chosen from new technology,
is sociologically interesting, too. Do other countries have these contests for “word
of the year” and which words were chosen?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Fritz
Goerling<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>*Where
does ‘w00t’ come from? Opinions are divided.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Merriam-Webster's
Word of '07: 'W00t'<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=hn-byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>By STEPHANIE REITZ <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>SPRINGFIELD</span></font></st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Mass.</st1:State></st1:place> (AP) — Expect cheers among
hardcore online game enthusiasts when they learn Merriam-Webster's Word of the
Year. Or, more accurately, expect them to "w00t." "W00t," a
hybrid of letters and numbers used by gamers as an exclamation of happiness or
triumph, topped all other terms in the Springfield-based dictionary publisher's
online poll for the word that best sums up 2007.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Merriam-Webster's
president, John Morse, said "w00t" was an ideal choice because it
blends whimsy and new technology.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"It
shows a really interesting thing that's going on in language. It's a term
that's arrived only because we're now communicating electronically with each
other," Morse said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Gamers
commonly substitute numbers and symbols for the letters they resemble, Morse
says, creating what they call "l33t speak" — that's
"leet" when spoken, short for "elite" to the rest of the
world.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>For
technophobes, the word also is familiar from the 1990 movie "Pretty
Woman," in which Julia Roberts startles her date's upper-crust friends
with a hearty "Woot, woot, woot!" at a polo match.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Purists
of "l33t speak" often substitute a "7" for the final
"t," expressing a "w007" of victory — an "in
your face" of sorts — when they defeat an online gaming opponent.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"W00t"
was among 20 nominees in a list of the most-searched words in Merriam-Webster's
online dictionary and most frequently submitted terms from users of its
"open dictionary."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
choice did not make Allan Metcalf, executive secretary of the American Dialect
Society, say "w00t."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"It's
amusing, but it's limited to a small community and unlikely to spread and
unlikely to last," said Metcalf, an English professor at <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">MacMurray</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">College</st1:PlaceType>
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Jacksonville</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Ill.</st1:State></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The 2006
pick, "truthiness," also has its roots in pop culture. It was
popularized by Comedy Central satirical political commentator Stephen Colbert.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Some
also-rans in the 2007 list: the use of "facebook" as a verb to
signify using the Web site by that name; nuanced terms such as
"quixotic," "hypocrite" and "conundrum"; and
"blamestorm," a meeting in which mistakes are aired, fingers are
pointed and much discomfort is had by all.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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