by: Jason Boog
Choosing from a crowded field of brand new words that included "hashtag," "paywall," and "sexting," the New Oxford American Dictionary has picked its highly anticipated Word of the Year: "unfriend."
The term has become linguistic shorthand for breaking off a friendship in virtual space, the end of a social networking relationship on Facebook or other site. It was chosen for "currency and potential longevity," according to the press release. GalleyCat caught up with Rebecca Ford, the senior OUP blog editor, to find out more about behind-the-scene deliberations at the dictionary. She explained the creation of the master list: "They pull in sources from blogs, magazines, books, and give us a list of words that are buzzing in new and interesting ways. We sit around and discuss the list--deciding which ones we think are most important."
"It's my favorite time of year," she concluded. "It's a lot of fun, especially when you come up with a list with a word like sexting on it. When we discuss, you have to decide--do you want to go for the word that is most sensational, or the word that will have the most longevity in the language?"
from: GalleyCat
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