Mark Memmott, “Occupy? Humble Brag? What’s Your ‘Word Of The Year?’” (“The Two-Way” NPR blog, Dec. 16, 2011)
Today on Morning Edition, Boston Globe language columnist Ben Zimmer — who chairs the society’s new words committee — told host Renee Montagne that the early favorite is probably “occupy.”
It is “an old word that has been invested with new meanings” thanks to the Occupy Wall Street movement and all the other occupy protests it has sparked, Zimmer said. “It has become a call to action itself,” he added.
But, of course, there are many other possibilities: “Arab Spring,” “bunga bunga” and “tiger blood” come to mind.
Zimmer has a personal favorite: “humble brag.” It describes the fake humility of some celebrities when they Tweet or talk about how hard their lives can be.
Read the rest here.