150 linguists from the American Dialect Society have chosen “app” as word of the year, topping the word “nom” on a list of 33 contenders. The image embedded above shows words from the Society’s newly created “fan words” category.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports: “App, which means ‘an application program for a phone or computer or other electronic device,’ was proposed not because it is particularly new or groundbreaking, but because it came into its own and crossed into the wider culture in 2010.”
The runner-up, “nom,” is defined as “onomatopoetic form connoting eating, especially pleasurably.” Back in November, the New Oxford American Dictionary picked refudiate as the 2010 Word of the Year. (Photo via)