A testament to how popular social networking has become, Oxford American Dictionary has picked the word "unfriend'' as the word of the year.
According to the dictionary, unfriend is a verb that means to "remove someone as a friend on a social networking site such as Facebook.''
"It has both currency and potential longevity,'' said Christine Lindberg, a senior lexicographer with the dictornary on Monday. "In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year. . . Unfriend has real lex-appeal.''
Other contenders for the 2009 word of the year included the Twitter term, hashtag; netbook, a small portable laptop computer and sexting, to send sexually explicit texts or photos on a cellphone.
List of more finalists:
* Intexticated - distracted because texting on a cellphone while driving a vehicle
* Paywall - a way of blocking access to a part of a website which is only available to paying subscribers
* Freemium - a business model in which some basic services are provided for free, with the aim of enticing users to pay for additional, premium features or content
* Funemployed - taking advantage of one's newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests
* Zombie bank - a financial institution whose liabilities are greater than its assets, but which continues to operate because of government support
* Ardi - (Ardipithecus ramidus) oldest known hominid, discovered in Ethiopia during the 1990s and announced to the public in 2009
* Birther - a conspiracy theorist who challenges President Obama's US birth certificate
* Choice mom - a person who chooses to be a single mother
* Death panel - a theoretical body that determines which patients deserve to live, when care is rationed
* Teabagger - a person who protests President Obama's tax policies and stimulus package, often through local demonstrations known as "Tea Party" protests (in allusion to the Boston Tea Party of 1773).
* Brown state - a US state that does not have strict environmental regulations
* Green state - a US state that has strict environmental regulations
* Ecotown - a town built and run on eco-friendly principles
* Deleb - a dead celebrity
* Tramp stamp - a tattoo on the lower back, usually on a woman
http://www.canada.com/Unfriend+2009+Word+Year+Oxford+dictionary/2229297/story.html
Source: Oxford American Dictionary
According to the dictionary, unfriend is a verb that means to "remove someone as a friend on a social networking site such as Facebook.''
"It has both currency and potential longevity,'' said Christine Lindberg, a senior lexicographer with the dictornary on Monday. "In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year. . . Unfriend has real lex-appeal.''
Other contenders for the 2009 word of the year included the Twitter term, hashtag; netbook, a small portable laptop computer and sexting, to send sexually explicit texts or photos on a cellphone.
List of more finalists:
* Intexticated - distracted because texting on a cellphone while driving a vehicle
* Paywall - a way of blocking access to a part of a website which is only available to paying subscribers
* Freemium - a business model in which some basic services are provided for free, with the aim of enticing users to pay for additional, premium features or content
* Funemployed - taking advantage of one's newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests
* Zombie bank - a financial institution whose liabilities are greater than its assets, but which continues to operate because of government support
* Ardi - (Ardipithecus ramidus) oldest known hominid, discovered in Ethiopia during the 1990s and announced to the public in 2009
* Birther - a conspiracy theorist who challenges President Obama's US birth certificate
* Choice mom - a person who chooses to be a single mother
* Death panel - a theoretical body that determines which patients deserve to live, when care is rationed
* Teabagger - a person who protests President Obama's tax policies and stimulus package, often through local demonstrations known as "Tea Party" protests (in allusion to the Boston Tea Party of 1773).
* Brown state - a US state that does not have strict environmental regulations
* Green state - a US state that has strict environmental regulations
* Ecotown - a town built and run on eco-friendly principles
* Deleb - a dead celebrity
* Tramp stamp - a tattoo on the lower back, usually on a woman
http://www.canada.com/Unfriend+2009+Word+Year+Oxford+dictionary/2229297/story.html
Source: Oxford American Dictionary