Interview on the WBUR show “Here and Now” on Word of the Year candidates for 2012. (Nov. 14, 2012)
It’s that time again, when we start considering what words have found their way into our vocabulary this past year.
The Oxford English Dictionary has named “omnishambles” its word of the year – it means an all-out fiasco.
The Oxford American Dictionary picks the verb “GIF.” The acronym has long been used as a noun for the file type “graphic interchange format,” which supports animations. But it’s now being used as a verb for making the image and video sequences that have become ubiquitous on the web.
We speak with linguist and language columnist Ben Zimmer who’s been compiling his own list of words. He tells Here & Now that they include YOLO, the acronym for “you only live once,” made popular by rappers Drake and Rick Ross.
(Show page, audio, related Boston Globe column, Word Routes column)