Yat Dat Made the List

Once again, I admit I'm a geek...
When I found this list of the American Dialect Society's winning words of the year, I just had to share it!

Word Of The Year:
App: Application program for a computer or phone operating system. As in “there’s an app for that,” an advertising slogan for the iPhone. (Winner)
Nom: Onomatopoetic form connoting eating, esp. pleasurably. Can be used as an interjection or noun to refer to delicious food.
Junk: As used in junk shot (attempt to fix BP oil spill), junk status (Greece’s credit rating), don’t touch my junk (protest against TSA pat-down procedure).
Wikileaks: As proper noun, common noun, and verb.
Trend: To exhibit a burst of online buzz.

Most Useful:
Nom: Onomatopoetic form connoting eating, esp. pleasurably. Can be used as an interjection or noun to refer to delicious food. (Winner)
Fat-finger: To mistype, as by accidentally striking more than one key on a keyboard/pad.
Junk: Junk shot (attempt to fix BP oil spill), junk status (Greece’s credit rating), don’t touch my junk (protest against TSA pat-down procedure.
Vuvuzela: South African plastic trumpet used by fans during the FIFA World Cup matches.

Most Creative:
Prehab: Preemptive enrollment in a rehab facility to prevent relapse of an abuse problem. (Winner)
-sauce: As in awesome-sauce – “great’ and lame-sauce – “stupid.”
Spillion: An immense number, especially of gallons of oil in the Gulf spill. Also spillionaire, person made rich by money from BP’s spill cleanup fund.
Phoenix firm: A troubled company that reemerges under a new name.

Most Unnecessary:
Refudiate: Blend of refute and repudiate used by Sarah Palin on Twitter. (Winner)
Ironic moustache: Facial hair worn as a statement of retro hipsterdom.
Star whacker: Imagined celebrity killer (alleged by actor Randy Quaid and his wife Evi).
Hipsterdom: The state of being hip beyond all recognition. So hip you’re unhip.

Most Outrageous:
Gate rape: Pejorative term for invasive new airport pat-down procedure. (Winner)
Terror baby: Baby born to a terrorist family on U.S. soil in order to establish citizenship.
Bed intruder: Perpetrator of a home invasion in Huntsville, Alabama, made famous by viral video.

Most Euphemistic:
Kinetic event: Pentagon term for violent attacks on troops in Afghanistan. (Winner)
Corn sugar: Corn Refiners Association’s rebranding of high fructose corn syrup.
Enhanced pat-down: TSA’s term for controversial new frisking procedure.
Bed intruder: Perpetrator of a home invasion in Huntsville, Alabama, made famous by viral video.

Most Likely To Succeed:
Trend: To exhibit a burst of online buzz. (Winner)
Hacktivism: Using computer hacking skills as a form of political or social activism.
-pad: Combining form used by iPad and other tablet computers.
Telework: Term used at federal level for work by an employee away from the office.

Least Likely To Succeed:
Culturomics: Research project from Google analyzing the history of language and culture. (Winner)
Fauxhemian: Winner of a Gawker poll to replace the term “hipster.”
Skyaking: Jumping out of a plane in a kayak.

Top kill / top hat / junk shot: Various failed techniques to fix the BP oil spill.

Fan Words:
Gleek: A fan of the TV show “Glee” (Glee + geek). (Winner)
Belieber: A fan of pop singer Justin Bieber (Bieber + believer).
Little monster: A fan of pop singer Lady Gaga, so called by the singer herself.
Twihard: A fan of the “Twilight” books and movies.
Yat Dat: A native-born fan of the New Orleans Saints.

Last year, the organization selected “tweet” as its word of the year for 2009 and “Google” as its word of the decade. Find out more at www.americandialect.org.