Since 1991, the American Dialect Society has designated one or more words or terms to be the word of the year. The New York Times credits the American Dialect Society with starting the phenomenon.
In addition, the ADS has chosen its "Word of the 1990s" (web), "Word of the 20th Century" (jazz), and "Word of the Past Millennium" (she). The society also selects words in other categories that vary from year to year, such as most original, most unnecessary, most outrageous and most likely to succeed (see word of the year).
A number of words chosen by the ADS are also on the list of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year.
Read more about this topic: American Dialect Society
Famous quotes containing the words word of, word and/or year:
“The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Samuel 3:1.
“Decadence is a difficult word to use since it has become little more than a term of abuse applied by critics to anything they do not yet understand or which seems to differ from their moral concepts.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“We are often made to feel that there is another youth and age than that which is measured from the year of our natural birth. Some thoughts always find us young, and keep us so. Such a thought is the love of the universal and eternal beauty.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)