"Locavore" is Oxford Word-of-the-Year

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:32 PM -0500 11/14/07, Wilson Gray wrote:
>Locavore: "one who vores locally"! Okay, now I get it. There are are
>some cases in which it's necessary *not* to have had the benefit of a
>classical education.
>
>-Wilson

It does seem somewhat odd, but I guess it's too late to do anything
about it (other than vote for or against on WOTY day).  Me, I'm a
locovore.

LH

>On 11/13/07, Clai Rice <cxr1086 at louisiana.edu> wrote:
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Clai Rice <cxr1086 at LOUISIANA.EDU>
>>  Subject:      Re: "Locavore" is Oxford Word-of-the-Year
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  I notice that the verb "tase" is a runner up. The Chronicle of Higher
>>  Education reacted to the usage issues:
>>  The verb isn't capitalized even though the noun from which it derives is.
>>  ...
>>  Readers may imagine that the new linguistic terrain caused some
>>  consternation at the fastidious Chronicle. But even we used "tase" as a verb
>>  before Oxford's announcement.
>>  http://chronicle.com/news/article/?id=3417&at
>>
>>
>>  --Clai Rice
>>
>>  > -----Original Message-----
>>  > From: Barry Popik [mailto:bapopik at GMAIL.COM]
>>  > Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 5:33 PM
>>  > Subject: "Locavore" is Oxford Word-of-the-Year
>>  >
>>  > "Locavore." Someone named Ben Zimmer praises this food word.
>>  > This, from a dictionary that doesn't even have "ranch" dressing!
>>  > ...
>>  > ...
>>  > ...
>>  > http://blog.oup.com/2007/11/locavore/
>>  > Oxford Word Of The Year: Locavore
>>  >  November 12, 2007
>>  >
>>  > It's that time of the year again. It is finally starting to
>>  > get cold (if you are worried about the global warming maybe
>>  > you should become
>>  > carbon-neutral) and the New Oxford American Dictionary is
>>  > preparing for the holidays by making its biggest announcement
>>  > of the year. The
>>  > 2007 Word of the Year is (drum-roll please) locavore.
>>  >
>>  > The past year saw the popularization of a trend in using
>>  > locally grown ingredients, taking advantage of seasonally
>>  > available foodstuffs that can be bought and prepared without
>>  > the need for extra preservatives.
>>  >
>>  > The "locavore" movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers'
>>  > markets or even to grow or pick their own food, arguing that
>>  > fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better.
>>  > Locavores also shun supermarket offerings as an
>>  > environmentally friendly measure, since shipping food over
>>  > long distances often requires more fuel for transportation.
>>  >
>>  > "The word 'locavore' shows how food-lovers can enjoy what
>>  > they eat while still appreciating the impact they have on the
>>  > environment,"
>>  > said Ben Zimmer, editor for American dictionaries at Oxford
>>  > University Press. "It's significant in that it brings
>>  > together eating and ecology in a new way."
>>  >
>>  > "Locavore" was coined two years ago by a group of four women
>>  > in San Francisco who proposed that local residents should try
>>  > to eat only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius.
>>  > Other regional movements have emerged since then, though some
>>  > groups refer to themselves as "localvores" rather than
>>  > "locavores." However it's spelled, it's a word to watch.
>>  >
>>  > Runners-up for the 2007 Word of the Year include:
>>  >
>>  > aging in place: the process of growing older while living in
>>  > one's own residence, instead of having to move to a new home
>>  > or community
>>  >
>>  > bacn: email notifications, such as news alerts and social
>>  > networking updates, that are considered more desirable than
>>  > unwanted "spam"
>>  > (coined at PodCamp Pittsburgh in Aug. 2007 and popularized in
>>  > the blogging community)
>>  >
>>  > cloudware: online applications, such as webmail, powered by
>>  > massive data storage facilities, also called "cloud servers"
>>  >
>>  > colony collapse disorder: a still-unexplained phenomenon
>  > > resulting in the widespread disappearance of honeybees from
>>  > beehives, first observed in late 2006
>>  >
>>  > cougar: an older woman who romantically pursues younger men
>>  >
>>  > MRAP vehicle: Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle,
>>  > designed to protect troops from improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
>>  >
>>  > mumblecore: an independent film movement featuring low-budget
>>  > production, non-professional actors, and largely improvised dialogue
>>  >
>>  > previvor: a person who has not been diagnosed with a form of
>>  > cancer but has survived a genetic predisposition for cancer
>>  >
>>  > social graph: the network of one's friends and connections on
>>  > social websites such as Facebook and Myspace
>>  >
>>  > tase (or taze): to stun with a Taser (popularized by a Sep.
>>  > 2007 incident in which a University of Florida student was
>>  > filmed being stunned by a Taser at a public forum)
>>  >
>>  > upcycling: the transformation of waste materials into
>>  > something more useful or valuable
>>  >
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>--
>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>-----
>                                               -Sam'l Clemens
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
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