The English language is expanding and Merriam Webster tries to make that expansion official. The results are in and w00t is the new 2007 word of the year. It’s a combination of letters and numbers and is used to express joy after winning or for no reason at all. The word is part of what is know as l33t or leetspeak (l33t => leet => elite) used among gamers and computer nerds. W00t was originally an acronym for we owned the other team, and can alternatively be spelled woot. There’s even a website woot.com that spreads the joy by offering a speacial deal every day, and when it’s sold out, it’s gone.

Here are Merriam Webster’s top 10 words for 2007 (some new, some old):

1. w00t – expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word “yay”

2. facebook – to use facebook.com.

3. conundrum – a difficult problem, question or riddle that has a conjectural answer, or the answer involves a pun.

4. quixotic – foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals.

5. blamestorm – a meeting or gathering whose purpose is to pass or assign blame to someone.

6. sardoodledom – mechanically contrived plot structure and stereotyped or unrealistic characterization in drama.

7. apathetic – having or showing little or no interest, concern, emotion or feeling.

8. Pecksniffian – unctuously hypocritical.

9. hypocrite – acting in a contradictory fashion to your stated beliefs and feelings.

10. charlatan – someone who makes showy pretenses to knowledge or ability.

12 December 2007 1:23 am
Cats: English, Wordiness
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