Words of the Year announcement

[AAllan at AOL.COM]

Here are some details on our Words of the Year vote. This is a draft of what
will be in the ADS newsletter. If you can improve on the short definitions,
please let me know. After getting your suggestions and acting on them, we'll
post it on the ADS website. - Allan Metcalf

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The grim forebodings of the past year were reflected in the American Dialect
Society's choice of "weapons of mass destruction" and its abbreviation "WMD"
as word (or phrase) of the year 2002.

In the 13th annual vote among members and friends of the society, conducted
this time in Atlanta Jan. 3 during the society's annual meeting, "weapons of
mass destruction" received 38 votes of the approximately 60 cast. Vote
numbers are approximate because voting was by show of hands.

Other candidates for Word of the Year were:

"google" (verb) - to search the Web using the search engine Google for
information on a person or thing: 11 votes.

"blog" - from "weblog," a website of personal events, comments, and links: 6
votes.

"Amber alert" - public announcement of a missing child: 4 votes.

"regime change" - forced change in leadership: 3 votes.

Words of the Year are those that reflect the concerns and preoccupations of
the year gone by. They need not be new, but they usually are newly prominent.

Before the voting on Word of the Year, words were also chosen in particular
categories. These were the categories for 2002:

- Most likely to succeed: "blog" (30 votes). Other candidates: "Amber alert"
(20); "Axis of _____," alliance (8); "teen angstrel," angst-ridden popular
singer (1).

- Most useful: "google" (verb). All 60 votes in this category were for this
word. Other candidates, with no votes, were: "dataveillance," surveillance
using computer data; the prefix "war-" as in "wardriving" or "warchalking,"
finding locations for unauthorized wireless Internet access; "My big fat
______,"; "like no other," extremely.

- Most creative: "Iraqnophobia," strong fear of Iraq (38 votes in a runoff).
Other candidate in the runoff: "walking pinata," a person subject to
relentless criticism, most recently Trent Lott (25). Other candidates in the
first vote: "dialarhoea," inadvertent dialing of a cell phone in a pocket or
handbag (8); "201 (k)," a 401 (k) retirement account ruined by stock losses
(8); "apatheist," someone believing that God or gods exist but are not of any
use (7).

- Most unnecessary: "wombanization," feminization, from Alexander Barnes'
book "The Book Read Backwards: The Deconstruction of Patriarchy and the
Wombanization of Being" (46 votes). Other candidates: "Saddameter," meter on
television showing daily likelihood of war with Iraq (13); "virtuecrat,"
person both politically correct and morally righteous (10); "black tide,"
large-scale oil pollution at sea (0).

- Most outrageous: "Neuticles," fake testicles for neutered pets (40 votes in
a runoff). Other candidate in the runoff: "grid butt," marks left on the
buttocks by fishnet pantyhose (30). Other candidates in the first vote:
"sausage fest," slang term for a party with more males than females (7);
"diabulimia," loss of weight by a diabetic skipping insulin doses (3); "Botox
party," party at which a physician injects guests with Botox (2);
"comprendo-challenged," unable to understand the U.S. Constitution (0).

- Most euphemistic: "regime change" (38 votes). Other candidates: "V card,"
slang term for virginity (14); "newater," sewage water purified and recycled
into the fresh water system (7); "unorthodox entrepreneur," panhandler,
prostitute, or drug dealer in a Vancouver park (4); "Enronomics," fraudulent
business and accounting practices (1); "dirty bomb," conventional bomb laced
with radioactive material (0).

One candidate was proposed for the special category of Most Inspirational:
President Bush's coinage "embetterment," as in "the embetterment of mankind."
By a vote of 45 to 12, the society decided against this category and
candidate. A category of Bushisms was suggested for future years.

Choices for the years 1990 through 2002 may be found on the society's
website, www.americandialect.org.

The next vote, on words for 2003, will take place Friday, January 9, 2004, at
the American Dialect Society's annual meeting in Boston at the Sheraton
Hotel. Nominations for words of the year 2003 are welcome anytime. Send them
to the chair of the society's New Words Committee, Professor Wayne Glowka of
Georgia College and State University, at wglowka at mail.gcsu.edu.