Here are a few words for you. Pod slurp. Infomania. Carbon footprint. Password fatigue. Pretty impressive, huh? Know what they’ve got in common? Well, up until now none of them appeared in the Macquarie Dictionary, but that will soon change. But that’s not the complete story, these words are all winners, award winners in fact.
The winner of the much coveted and very prestigious 2007 Word of the Year is pod slurp. I’m not sure if there is actually a little statuette to go with the award or whether pod slurp was there to accept it (come to think of it, I don’t even know if there was a ceremony to celebrate).
Whether or not there was a red carpet to parade down along with all the hoop-la that goes with award ceremonies, the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year Committee (yes there is such a thing) also handed out some honourable mentions. This year’s honourable mentions were taken out by infomania and carbon footprint. There was also a People’s Choice Award which went to the ever popular password fatigue.
All of these words – plus a bunch of losers – will be added in the annual update of the Macquarie Dictionary Online.
We could wait until they make their big debut in the new Macquarie Dictionary to find out the definitions of each of the award winning words, but we’re not going to. I’m going to reveal their true identities right now.
Pod Slurp : n. - to download large quantities of data to an MP3 player or memory stick from a computer.
Infomania : n. - the tendency to give immediate attention to incoming messages such as email and text messages, resulting in constant distraction and a corresponding drop in the recipient's attention levels and work performance.
Carbon footprint : n. - the carbon dioxide emissions for which an individual or organisation can be held responsible as a result of their travel, fuel consumption, diet and energy requirements.
Password fatigue : n. - the level of frustration caused by having too many different passwords to remember, resulting in an inability to remember even those most commonly used.
To view all of the category winners (categories such as fashion, sport, social scene, business, politics, etc.) check out the Word of the Year site.
Previous Word of the Year Winner
2006 - muffin top : The fold of fat around the midriff which spills out over the top of tight-fitting pants or skirts on the overweight
In this day and age of warnings about global warming, greenhouse gas emissions and the necessity of recycling and reusing, carbon footprint interests me and has prompted me to look a little further into it. I will investigate how to calculate a carbon footprint and how to reduce it and will report what I've found in another post.
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