WOTY commercialized by yourdictionary.com (now on Reuters)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

    WOTY has been cheapened by yourdictionary.com.  The commercial web site
has chosen its "Words of 2003."  A press release was sent to the media.  Now,
yourdictionary.com has its free ad--"press release"--on Reuters.  It was picked
up in today's NEW YORK POST.
    What hurts is that this schlock crowds out real, non-profit organizations
like the American Dialect Society.  In January, people will think: "Didn't I
see that about a week ago?"
    Here's the story, followed by some other year-end stuff:


http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/14512.htm
'EMBEDDED' WINNER IN A WAR OF WORDS
December 26, 2003 -- LOS ANGELES - A Web site specializing in language named
what it called the top word, phrase and name of the year yesterday, picking
them all from the war in Iraq. "Embedded," as in the reporters assigned to
accompany military units during the war, beat out "blog" and "SARS" as the top word
of 2003, Web site yourDictionary.com said. "Embedded was the best word to
distill the events of an extraordinary year into eight simple letters," said Paul
JJ Payack, president of YourDictionary.com. "Shock and awe," the phrase the
U.S. military used to describe the type of campaign it would wage in Iraq,
topped other Iraq-related terms like "weapons of mass destruction" and "spider
hole" as the top phrase of 2003. The name most on people's lips during the year
was fallen Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. He beat out "Ahh-nold" (as in
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger) and "W." (as in President Bush). The site's
lists are created by taking nominations from users around the world and then
having them judged by "professional wordsmiths."


http://c1.zedo.com/ads2/f/32261/3853/172/0/162000034/162000034/0/162/33/zz-V1-
accuquote_gif_1103_gray.html
The Year in Catch-Phrases
Bennifer..
Metrosexual...
The Governator...
"TiVo It"...
Punk'd...
Friendster...
Go Bags...
SARS...
Push Presents...
Embedded reporters...
Shock and Awe...
War blog...
Most-Wanted Cards...


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=857&ncid=757&e=10&
u=/nm/20031219/od_uk_nm/oukoe_germany_phrase
Germans pick "old Europe" as phrase of year
Fri Dec 19,12:23 PM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - "Old Europe" -- a term U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald
Rumsfeld used to disparage Germany and France for resisting war in Iraq-- has
been named phrase of the year in Germany by a panel of language experts