Language is a funny thing.
Have you ever wondered how some terms become so well known, so indoctrinated, that you could travel around the world and hear the same words and phrases and know exactly what they mean? Who knew that cab drivers everywhere would know what “fast, fast” means?
The GLOBAL LANGUAGE MONITOR takes a look at word usage around the world and has been able to compile what they say is THE DEFINITIVE LIST OF THE MOST POPULAR WORDS AND PHRASES FOR 2013. Their criteria involves looking at various areas of the Internet as well as print and electronic media for any term that has a minimum amount of usage – about 25,000 citations is the low-end cut off point.
The most popular term for 2013? “404” – most likely due to the issues with healthcare.gov.
The rest of the TOP TEN WORDS FOR 2013 ARE:
- Fail
- Hashtag
- @Pontifex
- The Optic
- Surveillance
- Drones
- Deficit
- Sequestration
- Emancipate
The TOP TEN PHRASES FOR 2013 ARE:
- Toxic Politics
- Federal Shutdown
- Global Warming
- Federal Deficit
- Tread Lightly
- Boston Strong
- Marathon Bombing
- Chemical Weapons
- All Time High
- Rogue Nukes
And the TOP TEN NAMES MOST SEEN IN THE NEWS ARE:
- Pope Francis
- ObamaCare
- The NSA
- Ed Snowden
- Kate Middleton
- The IRS
- Ted Cruz
- Chris Christie
- The Tea Party
- Marathon Bombers