2011’s Word of the Year
Posted by January 2, 2012
Filed under Observations
Filed under Observations
Occupy, referring to the Occupy protest movement, has been deemed the word of 2011 by the American Dialect Society.
“It’s a very old word, but over the course of just a few months it took on another life and moved in new and unexpected directions, thanks to a national and global movement. The movement itself was powered by the word,” said Ben Zimmer, chairman of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society.
Word of the Year is defined as newly prominent or notable in the past year. It can be either a word or phrase, and does not have to be a brand new word.
A full list of other words considered can be found here.