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Speaking Activities - A talk (monologue) on the US Word of Year by Gloria Isabel Godino (Av2 Tues, 2009-10)

Since 1991, the American Dialect Society has designated one or more words or terms to be the Word of the Year. The New York Times credits the American Dialect Society with starting the phenomenon.

First of all, I'll explain a little bit what the ADS is.

The ADS, founded in 1889, is a learned society devoted to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it.

The organization was founded as part of a near century-long effort to create the Dictionary of American Regional English. Every year members of the American Dialect Society are been asked to choose the word of the year.

American linguists vote on different categories as the:

1. Most useful
2. Most creative
3. Most unnecessary
4. Most outrageous
5. Most euphemistic
6. Most likely to succeed
7. Least likely to succeed

Some of the examples that called my attention are the following ones:

Y2K (1999): Y2K was the common abbreviation for the year 2000 software problem (also known as the millennium bug, 1997). The abbreviation combines the letter Y for "year" and K stands for the Greek prefix Kilo meaning 1000. Hence, 2K signifies 2000.

9-11 (2001): We all know about the nine eleven.

Metrosexual (2003): Metropolitan heterosexual. Generally referring to a heterosexual man (especially one living in a post-industrial, capitalist culture) with a strong concern for his appearance and/or a lifestyle that displays attributes stereotypically associated with homosexual men.

Plutoed (2006): "To pluto" is "to demote or devalue someone or something", as happened to the former planet Pluto when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto was no longer a planet (Audio from National Geographic News).

Subprime (2007): Also spelled sub-prime. It means literally "less than ideal" and as a technical term it is used to describe loans (especially mortgages) made to borrowers with poor credit histories.

Bailout (2008): We also know this word because of the text we read the other day in class (2 pages). A bailout is an act of giving capital to a company in danger of failing, in an attempt to save it from bankruptcy, insolvency, or total liquidation and ruin; or to allow a failing company to fail gracefully without spreading contagion.

We can also find other words nominated for the award like:

Water-boarding: a form of interrogation that involves simulating drowning in order to make the victim talk.

A ninja: a loan made to a high-risk borrower. Ninja is an acronym of "No Income, No Job or Assets".

Wrap rage: Anger cause by an inability to open the wrapping on a package.

Tapafication: the word I like the most. The tendency of restaurants to serve food in many small portions - just like tapas in Spain.

Wallet biopsy (2005): examination, before medical service is provided, of a patient's ability to pay. Download Michael Moore's Sicko

Podcast (2005): a digital feed containing audio or video files for downloading to a portable MP3 player. Subscribe to the Talking People Podcast