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The Justin Bieber, Shellacking, Vuvuzela:<\/strong>\u00a0Three new additions to the lexicon.<\/p>\n Vuvuzela is a great word, one of the best to enter American popular culture in 2010, though it sounds nothing like an actual vuvuzela. A vuvuzela sounds like a long, droning moan, a sound full of garbage and tennis balls.<\/p>\n The vuvuzela\u2019s long, plastic barrel provided Americans with the junk shot of sounds this year, the sort of noise you could hear even through a containment dome placed over a gushing underwater oil well owned by BP. (Though if you take a vuvuzela to the airport, you\u2019re going to get an enhanced pat-down, sure as we could be entering a\u00a0double-dip recession<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n Close your eyes while someone blows a vuvuzela and you can see all this clearly, as if it were playing on a\u00a0spill-cam<\/strong>over your Web browser at work. Open them and it\u2019s just a World Cup game highlight (speaking of great words: Uruguay vs. Ghana).<\/p>\n And the oil kept coming, all summer long, and with it new words \u2014 top kill<\/strong>,\u00a0static<\/strong>\u00a0kill, bottom kill<\/strong> \u2014 that meant failure, until at bottom they didn\u2019t. (There may be\u00a0put-backs<\/strong>\u00a0for mortgage bonds. It doesn\u2019t work so well with oil.)<\/p>\n Everyone was glad that the fish kill wasn\u2019t as bad as it might have been. Dispersants may have worked. But the\u00a0blowout preventer<\/strong>\u00a0did not.<\/p>\n Refudiate<\/strong>\u00a0is almost a better word than vuvuzela, because it\u2019s not so much a real word as a neologism, one much of America attributes to Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, who used it in a Twitter message in July. (She took a real\u00a0shellacking\u00a0<\/strong>for that.) The Oxford University Press called it the\u00a0word of the year<\/a>.<\/p>\n But refudiate was not Ms. Palin\u2019s word first, even if she unpacked the portmanteau all by her lonesome. David Segal of The New York Times had it in print in late June, in\u00a0an article about people who sell marijuana for a living<\/a>. They are not easy to interview.<\/p>\n \u201cSimple yes-or-no questions yield 10-minute soliloquies,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWords are coined on the spot, like \u2018refudiate,\u2019 and regular words are used in ways that make sense only in context.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s like a\u00a0halfalogue<\/strong>, talking to those guys.<\/p>\n Speaking of, did you see \u201cInception<\/strong>\u201d? (Can Ms. Palin refudiate a claim that she took the word refudiate from a sleeping marijuana salesman?) Did you\u00a0i-dose<\/strong>\u00a0on Justin Bieber videos (I\u2019m a\u00a0Belieber<\/strong>!) or contemplate becoming one of the Hollywood\u00a0star whackers<\/strong>who sent Randy Quaid around a bend and up to Canada to seek asylum? Did you weep along with HungryBear\u2019s\u00a0double rainbow<\/strong>\u00a0on YouTube, then seek double rainbows yourself?<\/p>\n Most important of all, did you stand for or against the ground zero mosque near the ground zero Century 21, some blocks away from ground zero itself but almost directly next door to a bar?<\/p>\n G.Z.M.<\/strong>\u00a0was a big word for 2010, until it was not. On that subject, there was\u00a0quantitative easing<\/strong>\u00a0as soon as the midterm elections were over.<\/p>\n QE2<\/strong>! \u2014 Sam Sifton<\/em><\/p>\n The old and new puns, slang and jargon that we lived with this year. Compiled by Grant Barrett.<\/p>\n Pop Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>belieber:<\/strong>\u00a0A fan of Justin Bieber<\/em>,\u00a0the Canadian pop singer who also spawned \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n the Justin Bieber:<\/strong>\u00a0A\u00a0haircut<\/a>\u00a0also known as the flip and switch, the flow, or the twitch. Now driving parents crazy everywhere.<\/em><\/p>\n G.T.L.:<\/strong>\u00a0For\u00a0\u201cgym, tan, laundry,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0the life philosophy of the Situation, otherwise known as Mike Sorrentino of the reality TV program \u201cJersey Shore.\u201d You laugh, but it\u2019s worked for him.<\/em><\/p>\n i-dosing:<\/strong>\u00a0A supposed\u00a0digital drug.<\/a>\u00a0Certain soundwaves, the claim goes, give listeners a high. Skeptics abound, watchful parents are everywhere.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n star whacker:<\/strong>\u00a0The latest in celeb coinage. In October, the actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, begged for asylum in Canada,\u00a0claiming fear of star whackers<\/a>, people who had already killed other famous people and were out to get them, too.<\/em><\/p>\n Communicating<\/strong><\/p>\n coffice:<\/strong>\u00a0In South Korea,\u00a0a coffee shop habitually used as an office<\/a>\u00a0by customers, who mooch its space, electricity, Wi-Fi and other resources. Presumably, they pay for the coffee.<\/em><\/p>\n halfalogue:<\/strong>\u00a0Half of a conversation, like an overheard phone call. The term was coined in the\u00a0research paper<\/a>\u00a0\u201cOverheard Cell-Phone Conversations: When Less Speech is More Distracting\u201d in the journal Psychological Science.<\/em><\/p>\n sofalize:<\/strong>\u00a0A\u00a0British marketing term<\/a>\u00a0created for people who prefer to stay home and communicate with others electronically.<\/em><\/p>\n mansplainer:<\/strong>\u00a0A\u00a0man compelled to explain or give an opinion about everything<\/a> \u2014 especially to a woman. He speaks, often condescendingly, even if he doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about or even if it\u2019s none of his business. Old term: a boor.<\/em><\/p>\n social graph:<\/strong>\u00a0The structure of personal networks, who people know and how they know them, especially online. The term probably came from the\u00a0internal lingo at Facebook<\/a>, but it has spread widely among technology companies.<\/em><\/p>\n Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n demon sheep:<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0political ad<\/a>\u00a0that captured critics everywhere for being \u201cbaaad,\u201d as The Wall Street Journal put it. The Senate campaign of Carly Fiorina used and retired the ad, but other campaigns quickly created their own parodies.<\/em><\/p>\n mama grizzly:<\/strong>\u00a0Coined by Sarah Palin,\u00a0\u201cmama grizzly\u201d<\/a>\u00a0is the conservative woman\u2019s battle cry, referring to mothers who ferociously defend their children or policies that benefit them. Often used with humor. In her new book, Ms. Palin wrote that it\u2019s \u201cbear propaganda\u201d to insist that these bears are cute and cuddly.<\/em><\/p>\n poutrage:<\/strong>\u00a0False outrage<\/a>, usually put on for personal, financial or political gain.<\/em><\/p>\n refudiate:<\/strong>\u00a0Another Palinism<\/a>, this time a blend of refute and repudiate. Now used with an eyebrow raised.<\/em><\/p>\n shellacking:<\/strong>\u00a0President Obama<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0preferred way to describe<\/a>\u00a0what happened to Democrats in the midterm elections. Some might call it a knock-down punch.<\/em><\/p>\n Travel<\/strong><\/p>\n cuddle class:<\/strong>\u00a0Economy-class airplane seats that unfold into a bed or couch, as proposed by Air New Zealand,\u00a0which calls them \u201cSkycouch\u201d<\/a>\u00a0seats.<\/em><\/p>\n porno scanner:<\/strong>\u00a0A full-body security scanner\u00a0that provoked outrage at airports and on blogs<\/a>. Also called\u00a0strip-search scanners<\/strong>\u00a0and, more politely, by the Transportation Security Administration, advanced imaging technology.<\/em><\/p>\n enhanced pat-down:<\/strong>\u00a0Frisking in which security workers\u00a0slide the palms of their hands<\/a>down a person\u2019s body in a search for contraband or weapons.<\/em><\/p>\n Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n double-dip recession:<\/strong>\u00a0What economists talked about<\/a>, and what every Obama administration official feared.<\/em><\/p>\n flash crash:<\/strong>\u00a0The mystery of the financial markets this year:\u00a0a May 6 market drop<\/a>\u00a0of almost 1,000 points.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n peak water:<\/strong>\u00a0Like \u201cpeak oil,\u201d a theory that\u00a0humans may have used the water easiest to obtain<\/a>, and that scarcity may be on the rise.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n QE2:<\/strong>\u00a0Not the ocean liner, but the abbreviation for the Fed\u2019s latest round of\u00a0quantitative easing<\/a>, its purchase of Treasury bonds. The term is usually used by critics derisively, and often in combination with another disaster, the sinking of the Titanic.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n robo-signer and put-back:<\/strong>\u00a0Even for people who never read their mortgage documents, these terms became inescapable as the foreclosure crisis hit. For the record, arobo-signer<\/a>\u00a0approves mortgage foreclosure notices without verifying its contents. A\u00a0put-back<\/a>\u00a0is a mortgage sold back to an institutional seller because of problems with documentation.<\/em><\/p>\n The Oil Spill<\/strong><\/p>\n containment dome:<\/strong>\u00a0After the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, everyone became an engineer. The\u00a0containment dome?<\/a>\u00a0Yes, that seals the leak.<\/em><\/p>\n junk shot:<\/strong>\u00a0Plugging the leak<\/a>\u00a0with old tires, golf balls and other debris.<\/em><\/p>\n static kill:<\/strong>\u00a0Sealing the well<\/a>\u00a0by pumping in a synthetic mud from the top.<\/em><\/p>\n bottom kill:<\/strong>\u00a0The same technique<\/a>, only many thousands of feet further down the well through a relief well. How we got this education: the 24-hour spillcam that broadcast the leak.<\/em><\/p>\n Things<\/strong><\/p>\n inception:<\/strong>\u00a0Popularized by the\u00a0movie \u201cInception,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0the word expanded from its usual meaning and now refers to ideas planted in the dreams of other people.<\/em><\/p>\n double rainbow:<\/strong>\u00a0A phrase from the\u00a0hugely popular YouTube video<\/a>\u00a0by Paul Vasquez, featuring his breathless amazement at the sight of two rainbows at Yosemite National Park. It spawned parodies, television commercials, dance mixes, Auto-Tune versions, parties and Halloween costumes, and is now used to refer \u2014 ironically and not \u2014 to something amazing.<\/em><\/p>\n E.V.:<\/strong>\u00a0An\u00a0electric vehicle<\/a>. While the term has been around for decades, there are now more cars like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt, which makes it more than an environmentalist\u2019s pipeless dream.<\/em><\/p>\n G.Z.M.:<\/strong>\u00a0An acronym for\u00a0ground zero mosque<\/a> \u2014 the shorthand term for a controversial Muslim community center proposed near the site where the World Trade Center was attacked.<\/em><\/p>\n vuvuzela<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0South African plastic trumpet<\/a>\u00a0that invaded, like locusts, the World Cup matches in Johannesburg. Television viewers, as well as participants, couldn\u2019t escape the buzzzzz.<\/em><\/p>\nBy\u00a0SAM SIFTON<\/a>\u00a0and GRANT BARRETT<\/h6>\n
Published: December 18, 2010<\/h6>\n
<\/span>There are buzzwords and there are great words. (Retweet.)<\/p>\nThe Words That Made the Year<\/h1>\n