Crackberry Is the 2006 Word of the Year
HOBOKEN, N.J., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- When it comes to technology,
we're all thumbs -- feeding an addiction to PDA's and cellphones, and
generating Word-of-the-Year buzz at Webster's New World(R) College
Dictionary.
Crackberry, winner of the 2006 Word-of-the-Year contest among the
dictionary's staff, sums up the ubiquitous thumbing of keypads on handheld
devices throughout the country. And it does double duty, denoting both the
device and the user. Whether on BlackBerries -- the PDA's that spawned this
latest appellation -- or cellphones, or other handheld devices, people
hunched over these tools are a common sight. That devout-looking hunch
itself, note Webster's New World editors, is called the Crackberry prayer,
homage to this latest obsession.
Devotion to digital communications is nothing new to lexicographers
tracking new terminology. Mouse potato, geek chic, and Thumb Generation are
all terms now solidly entrenched in the dictionary's massive database, if
not yet in the dictionary itself. They speak to the mesmerizing attraction
of instant contact and information.
Crackberry had quite a number of competitors for Word-of-the-Year
status at Webster's New World this year, and the obvious choice, Pluto,
was, of course, high on the list. No longer defined as a planet, Pluto and
its demotion to dwarf planet may require a number of dictionary entry
changes in the coming year.
Choosing the Word of the Year is a pleasant exercise that the editors
and language researchers (called citation readers) of Webster's New World
look forward to each year. "We survey the new, emerging language of the
past year," says Editor in Chief Michael Agnes, "and choose one word (or
phrase) that captures our imagination -- whether with its intrinsic
linguistic attributes or by the way it expresses how language reflects
changing realities."
Among the other competitors for Word of the Year in 2006 were
* netroots a grassroots movement on the Internet that is
employed in political and business marketing;
* neuroeconomics an emerging field studying the emotions activated in
financial decisions; and
* carbon footprint the effect one's daily activities -- like washing
clothes or driving to work -- have on the
environment.
"In most cases," says Agnes, "the word chosen is a new one and thus
hasn't yet found its way into the dictionary. As we do not try to predict
the future of language change in English, the choice does not reflect an
opinion that the term will eventually be found in the dictionary. In short,
it's merely one that made us chuckle, think, reflect, or just shake our
heads. In any case, it is a product of our language monitoring program, by
which we collect examples of emerging new English -- to the tune of 2,000
new examples per month. Our citation files now hold approximately 1.9
million such examples."
Through more than five decades of language research, Webster's New
World lexicographers have created a uniquely modern dictionary that helps
you understand and use the language as no other dictionary can. With the
most readable, precise, and up-to-date definitions, the dictionary also has
reference sections that provide a wealth of information not found in any
other college-level dictionary. Included are a full-color atlas of the
world, rules of punctuation, geographical tables, and scientific and
measurement charts. The rich history of our language is traced with the
identification of Americanisms and with detailed etymologies, and the
dictionary also boasts higher-quality paper that enhances readability and
durability.
Selected by the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, The New York
Times, and other leading newspapers as their official dictionary of choice,
Webster's New World College Dictionary represents the finest linguistic
scholarship. For more information on the lexicographical process behind the
dictionary, Editor in Chief Mike Agnes is available for interviews.
Webster's New World(R) -- We Define Your World(R)
Webster's New World(R)
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Your World" for more than fifty years. From its initial mission to provide
a commonsense, user-friendly dictionary specifically for American English,
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reliability. Webster's New World is famous for providing a wealth of up-to-
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well as pocket references for people on the go. For more information, visit
http://www.wiley.com. Webster's New World is an imprint of Wiley.
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SOURCE John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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nhostler@wiley.com, both of Wiley
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