Lists include Top Ten Words, September 11, People's Names, California YouthSpeak, Top Phrases, Corporate Buzzwords, Sports, Best & Worse Corporate Name Changes, Internet-related,
and more.
To read the CNN story, click here.
Danville, California. December 26, 2001. yourDictionary.com (YDC), the premier global language portal, today announced the release of its lists of the most important words of
2001, including lists of the overall Top Ten Words, September 11, People's Names, California YouthSpeak, Top Phrases, Corporate Buzzwords, Sports, Best and Worse of Corporate Names,
Internet-related terms, and various other topics.
According to Paul J.J. Payack, president and C.E.O. of yourDictionary.com, "Our lists attempt to capture that evolution and innovations in word choice and usage that tell us something
about ourselves." The linguistic specialists at yourDictionary.com queried experts around the world to determine their rankings.
The comments were written by Payack.
| Top Ten Words of 2001 |
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| 1. Ground Zero |
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The now sanctified ground at the epicenter of World Trade Center disaster. Sadly, this word replaces 'chad' as the No. 1 word of the year. (Last year "ground zero" was cited for its
misuse in the sense of "beginning," as in "starting over from ground zero".) |
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| 2. W. (Dubya) |
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Shorthand for George W. Bush. The butt of January's political jokes waxes most presidential in September. |
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| 3. Jihad |
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This Arabic word actually means "struggle" or "inner struggle" but is more commonly used to mean "holy war". |
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| 4. God |
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(Also Allah and Yahweh).The name has been in more headlines and on the lips of more politicians than any time in recent memory. |
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| 5. Anthrax |
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The Greek word for "coal" (for the black scabs it produces) becomes the world's first postal disease and terrorists' biological weapon of choice. |
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| 6. Euro |
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The introduction of a pan-European monetary system tightens the unity of Europe. |
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| 7. Wizard |
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On the list due to Harry Potter's course of study at the Hogwarts School, with strong support from Gandalf and company in The Lord of the Rings. |
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| 8. -stan |
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The Persian word for 'place of' in names like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan. This is the first ever Suffix of the Year. |
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| 9. Oprahization |
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Defines the litmus test of political utterances: if it doesn't play on Oprah, it doesn't play at all. |
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| 10. Foot-and-Mouth |
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This word received more press that "foot-IN-mouth" disease. Until this year, many thought the word was "hoof-and-mouth" disease. |
| Special California Bonus Word |
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| Rolling Blackout |
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A gift from Governor Davis to the English language. |
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| Top Ten Names of 2001 |
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| 1. The Heroes |
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Specifically the NYFD and NYPD and the passengers of Flight 93, but actually all firefighters, Police, EMTs, and hospital workers at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania
countryside, and passengers of other hijacked flights, etc. |
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| 2. George Bush |
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After a bumpy departure from Florida, the President helps unify the USA in ways not seen since World War II. |
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| 3. Rudolph Giuliani |
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The Man of the Year, whose political career seemed at an end, proved to be a powerful leader under pressure. |
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| 4. Osama bin Laden |
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The mastermind behind the destruction of the World Trade Center and reputed leader of the al Qaeda terrorist network. |
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| 5. Tony Blair |
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Our closest ally, the UK Prime Minister becomes the first to support the US in the war on terrorism. |
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| 6. Harry Potter |
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The literary sensation of the year is an honor student as the Hogwarts School. |
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| 7. The Taliban |
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The students of the Islamic religion (mostly from Pakistan) who ran the Afghani government since the Soviet withdrawal. |
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| 8. The Clintons |
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Hillary's career in the Senate is launched in the twilight of William J.'s presidency. |
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| 9. Donald Rumsfeld |
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The Secretary of Defense is keeping the President's word that "the people who knocked these building down will hear from us real soon". |
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| 10. Vladimir Putin |
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The Russian bear has become a teddy bear cuddling up with the USA, its erstwhile enemy. |
| Top Ten 9/11-related Words |
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| 1. 9/11 or September 11th |
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Another day that will live in infamy. |
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| 2. Ground Zero |
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The now sanctified ground at the epicenter of World Trade Center disaster. Sadly, this word replaces 'chad' as the No. 1 word of the year. (Last year "ground zero" was cited for
its misuse in the sense of "beginning," as in "starting over from ground zero".) |
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| 3. World Trade Center |
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(Also WTC or Twin Towers). Complex of office towers in Lower Manhattan where some 250,000 people from around the world worked or visited in a day. Over 3,000 died there on September
11. |
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| 4. The Heroes |
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(Specifically the NYFD and NYPD and the passengers of Flight 93, but actually all firefighters, Police, EMTs, and hospital workers at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania
countryside, and passengers of other hijacked flights, etc. |
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| 5. Rudolph Giuliani |
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The Man of the Year by any measure. Though his political career seemed at an end, he proved to be a powerful leader under pressure. |
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| 6. George Bush |
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After a divisive departure from Florida, the President helps unify the USA in ways not seen since World War II. |
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| 7. Osama bin Laden |
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The mastermind behind the destruction of the World Trade Center and reputed leader of the al Qaeda terrorist network. |
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| 8. God |
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(Also Allah and Yahweh). The name has been in more headlines and on the lips of more politicians than any time in recent memory. |
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| 9. Anthrax |
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The Greek word for "coal" (for the black scabs it produces) becomes the world's first postal disease and terrorists' biological weapon of choice. |
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| 10. The Taliban |
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The students of the Islamic religion (mostly from Pakistan) who ran the Afghani government since the Soviet withdrawal. |
| Top Ten California Youthspeak |
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| 1. Tight |
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Cool |
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| 2. Hella |
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Extremely (intensive) |
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| 3. Dope |
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Fine, good, cool |
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| 4. Phat |
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Hella, cool |
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| 5. Pimpin |
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Good with women (Also playa) |
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| 6. Bling bling |
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Platinum |
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| 7. Wassup |
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(A greeting) |
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| 8. Fresh |
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Smooth, Looks great |
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| 9. Flow |
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Lots of money (as in cash flow) |
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| 10. Bank |
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Has lots of flow |
| Top Phrases of 2001 |
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| 1. Let's Roll |
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The last words heard from Todd Beamer as he and a small group of passengers on Flight 93 began their heroic counter-assault on the hijackers of their flight. |
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| 2. Evil-doer |
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An oddly archaic biblical term whose connotations reflect the turn to religion and patriotism in the U.S. in the wake of 9-11. |
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| 3. I can hear you! |
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President Bush at Ground Zero promising, "The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear from us real soon". |
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| 4. Everything has changed |
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A phrase so oft-repeated by so many that its first use has already become obscure. |
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| 5. Pardon me! |
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These words may come to vex the Clinton legacy as much as the name of Monica Lewinsky. |
| Best New Product Names |
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| 1. IT |
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Code name for the Segway™ Human Transport, the $3,000 motorized scooter. HT, the actual name, is a bit of a disappointment. |
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| 2. Ilumina |
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Animated Bible and Encyclopedia Suite from Tyndale House. Evokes images of Illuminated manuscripts of yore. |
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| 3. Game Cube (tie) |
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Nintendo's entry into the video game console marketplace. |
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| 4. XBOX (tie) |
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Microsoft's entry into the video game console marketplace. . |
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| 5. Beneful |
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A rather obvious haplological form of 'benefitful,' a misconstruction with an English suffix on a Latin stem. (Thank you, Purina, for sparing us the full form.) |
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| Worst New Product Name |
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| Nasocrom |
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Replaces "Flonase" as the most repulsive reference to nasal activity regardless of whether it reminds you of "nasal cram" or "nasal crumb(s)." |
| Best Corporate Name Change |
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| Altria |
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From Philip Morris. The name signifies more than 'higher' but also hints of 'altruism," a concept tobacco companies need more than altitude. |
| Worst Corporate Name Changes |
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| 1. Enron |
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Sometimes a company doesn't have to change its name to completely redefine itself in the mind of the public. |
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| 2. Accenture |
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From Anderson Consulting, one of the great branded names of the 20th century. |
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| 3. AOL TimeWarner |
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This one has grown into a very confused moniker. |
| Top Corporate Clichés (phrase) |
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| 1. Furlough |
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A kinder, gentler form of layoff. |
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| 2. TCO |
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Total Cost of Ownership. An old idea making a strong comeback. |
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| 3. IT |
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Information Technology. The older term for "high tech" rages back in vogue. The European term is "informatics." |
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| 4. Customer Experience |
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Postmodernism for 'Customer Service'. |
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5. Resonate |
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An idea "resonates" with customers if they fall for its pitch. |
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| 6. Out-of-box Experience |
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Postmodern rephrasing of "Does Mikey like it?" Positive 'out-of-the-box experience' truly 'resonates' with the customer. |
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| 7. Transforming technologies |
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Technologies that change the 'paradigm' of a business (see 'Paradigm'). |
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| 8. Paradigm |
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Coined by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions as the conceptual frameworks and/or worldviews of various scientific communities. In business it
has been reduced to anything that might provide a competitive edge. |
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| 9. App Servers |
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Computers dedicated to running specific applications only. |
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| 10. Effort |
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As in "We are efforting to resolve the glitch." Like "to concept" (We are in the concepting stage), here is another example of how too much verbing can cause trouble. |
| Top Color-related Words |
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| 1. Red |
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Especially in combination with white and blue. |
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| 2. White |
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Especially in combination with red and blue. |
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| 3. Blue |
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Especially in combination with white and red. |
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| 4. Burqua Blue |
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No longer the rage in Kabul. |
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| 5. Olive Drab |
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The color of service 'fatigues'. |
| Top Internet-related Words |
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| 1. LOL |
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Lots of love? Laughing out loud? Lots of Luck? This chat- and gameroom acronym can substitute for any of the above, so you have to know who you are talking to, UC. |
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| 2. Code kiddie |
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This new appellation of hackers betrays their fall in the esteem of their fellow man and responsible fellow programmers. |
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| 3. Steganography |
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Hiding things in plain view. Watermarks on graphics and other hidden identifiers on web pages have brought forth a new science for the protection of intellectual property. |
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| 4. Emoticon |
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We left this one until this year hoping it would go away. A blend of "emotion" and "icon," these prostrate faces created by punctuation marks now transform into-Oh, no! Anything
but-smiley faces! |
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| 5. Thingy |
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As opposed to "thing" this term refers to all those new objects associated with computers and computer screens for which normal man and woman have no words. It isn't new, but its
usage has soared as people take the internet plunge. |
| Top Sports Words |
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| 1. No. 3 |
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Dale Earnhardt's familiar No. 3 Chevy after his tragic death at the Daytona 500. (Last year Top Sports Words was Tiger as in Tiger Woods.) |
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| 2. 73 |
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Barry Bonds breaks the all-time home run mark held by retiring Mark McGuire by hitting his 73rd in a single season. |
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| 3. Williams |
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Venus, Serena and Dad shake up the tennis world. |
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| 4. Winter Olympics |
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Everyone hopes they will cool the world down. |
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| 5. World Cup |
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To the rest of the world, the real Super Bowl of football. |
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| Most frequently spoken word on the Planet: |
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| O.K. |
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Still one of the few examples where a person's initial's live on to become a word. (In this case, antebellum president Martin Van Buren, who was born in Old Kinderhook, New York;
his nickname, Old Kinderhook, quickly evolved to O.K.) An alternate derivation suggests a play on the dialectal pronunciations of "all correct" by editors of the Boston Post in 1839 |
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