The Lexicographer's Rules

I will be leading a class about the names of wines and cheeses this Friday, January 23, at Murray's Cheese on Bleecker Street in New York City. There's a fee, but it includes lots and lots of cheese and wine samples. Skip dinner!

This is my latest column in the Malaysia Star.

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This year, the American Dialect Society selected “bailout” as its word of 2008. That means it was the one which the society’s members felt was the most relevant to the events of the year.

Earlier in the year, the editors and lexicographers at Merriam-Webster, one of the most well-known dictionary publishers in the US, made the same choice.

It was also the second most-nominated word of the year from the general public in a tally I’ve been keeping since November.

Every year, my lexical and linguistic colleagues and I gather to pick the special word (or phrase). It’s nothing like the gatherings of the Academie Française, which is the official language body of France.

Our gathering is a more freewheeling affair (meaning, largely unstructured and without rules), and is meant to be fun. It’s whimsical.

Still, as the new head of the society’s new words committee, I can’t help but feel that this year, like last year when we chose “subprime”, we’ve really come into touch through our grand prize-winner “bailout” with the serious and important preoccupations of the American people.

Bailout is kind of a stand-in for all the financial problems that have slowly been growing worse over the last couple of years. Large businesses are failing and, as a result, they are seeking aid from the vastly wealthy federal government.

That aid, no matter what form it takes –loans, credit guarantees, or even just free handouts with no strings attached (meaning that the money is given and nothing is expected in return except that the recipient should thrive) – is called a bailout.

There are a couple of kinds of bailing out that are related to the financial bailout in the minds of English-speakers, although the one from which it truly springs is uncertain.

To bail out a boat means to use a bucket or some other container to scoop water out of the vessel so that it doesn’t sink. This comes from the French baille, meaning “tub” or “vat”.

You can envision, surely, the US$700bil federal bailout plan as if the US Government were scooping big bundles of cash out of its treasury and into the accounts of failing businesses, although the thing being scooped in that case is the solution rather than the problem. Greed and stupidity are not so easily removed.

Interestingly, if something is worth less than the amount that is owed on it, such as a house that has dropped to US$450,000 in value but for which the homeowner still owes US$600,000 to the bank who loaned the money for the house, then it is said to be underwater.

To bail out of an airplane means to leap from it, usually in an emergency situation. Presumably, one will only bail out of an airplane if one has a parachute or some other guarantee that death by airplane wouldn’t merely be replaced with death by gravity.

Again, you can likely envision how this might be related to the financial bailout. There’s an idea of escaping from a dangerous situation. However, this, too, is not a perfect metaphor, because to bailout from the financial predicament would be an acknowledgement of defeat.

If the financial bailout were literally the same as bailing out of an airplane, it would mean that we are fleeing from the smoking hulk that is screaming towards the earth rather than trying to fix it mid-air.

This kind of bailout has a couple of related slang meanings. For example, if you are about to leave a place with your friends, you might say “Let’s bail”, meaning, “Let’s leave”.

Also, if someone has offered, say, to help you move your belongings into a new home, but then they did not appear at the appointed hour, you might say, “They bailed on me”, meaning, “They didn’t show up and do the thing they said they would”. The “on” here is important, because “they bailed me” is nonsensical.

Another kind of bail is the money offered to a court as a way of guaranteeing that a criminal suspect will appear some time afterwards for trial.

It’s a way of ensuring that the milder criminals don’t clog up the jails and prisons. This, too, comes from Old French, from the verb bailer, “to take charge of”.

To jump bail, then, is to leave town despite the large sums of money that someone has given to ensure that you would not do that very thing, which is called standing bail.

A judge is likely to accept bail only for a criminal who is not a flight risk, that is, likely to flee. Leaving town in this way is also sometimes jokingly called foot bail.

This kind of bail can also be compared to the financial situation.

In some cases, the money the US federal government is giving to industry is a way of ensuring that these companies do not go bankrupt.

Bankruptcy, I suppose, is a kind of fleeing the scene of where something has gone terribly wrong.

The bail being offered here is a bailout money that is kind of a reassurance to the market as a whole that the major players in the economy intend to stay the course.

In any case, we are scooping the water out of the boat as fast as we can and hope to have the vessel safely dockside as soon as possible.

In its 19th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted “bailout” as the word of the year. In the specific sense used most frequently in 2008, bailout refers to the rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry.

Presiding at the Jan. 9 voting session were ADS Executive Secretary Allan Metcalf of MacMurray College, and Grant Barrett, chair of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society and co-host of the nationwide public radio show A Way with Words. Barrett is also the incoming editor of the column “Among the New Words” in the society’s quarterly academic journal American Speech.

“When you vote for bailout, I guess you’re really voting for ‘hope’ and ‘change,’ too,” Barrett said. “Though you’d think a room full of pointy-headed intellectuals could come up with something more exciting.”

Download the 2008 Word of the Year press release: PDF, Microsoft Word.

Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as “vocabulary item”—not just words but phrases. The words or phrases do not have to be brand-new, but they have to be newly prominent or notable in the past year, in the manner of Time magazine’s Person of the Year.

The vote is the longest-running such vote anywhere, the only one not tied to commercial interests, and the word-of-the-year event up to which all others lead. It is fully informed by the members’ expertise in the study of words, but it is far from a solemn occasion. Members in the 119-year-old organization include linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, university students, and independent scholars. In conducting the vote, they act in fun and do not pretend to be officially inducting words into the English language. Instead they are highlighting that language change is normal, ongoing, and entertaining.

In a companion vote, sibling organization the American Name Society voted “Barack Hussein Obama” as Name of the Year for 2008 in its fifth annual name-of-the-year contest.

AMERICAN DIALECT SOCIETY VOTE TALLIES

The number after each nomination is the number of votes it received. Numbers separated by slash marks indicate a run-off. Voting totals are for each category might not be identical because the number of voters might have changed for each category.

WORD OF THE YEAR WINNER: bailout, the rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry. 37/74

Other nominees for word of the year:

Barack Obama: Both names as combining forms in a large number of new words. A combining form is a word or part of a word that can be used as the root or basis of other words. 28/43

lipstick on a pig: An adornment of something that can't be made pretty. 16

change: Not so much a buzzword as political wallpaper, background noise, and ambient energy rolled into one. The idea of discarding old ideas and methods seemed to underlie everything said by national political candidates. 14

shovel-ready: Used to describe infrastructure projects that can be started quickly when funds become available 5

game-changer: In business and politics, something that alters the nature of a marketplace, relationship, or campaign. From sports ‘something that changes a match or contest.’ 2

—MOST USEFUL—

WINNER: Barack Obama: Both names as combining forms. 41/72

text(ing), in driving while texting (DWT), the sending of text messages while conducting and automobile, and textwalker, a person who texts while walking. 38/34

bailout: The rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry. 14

Palinesque: Pertaining to a person who has extended themselves beyond their expertise, thereby bringing ridicule upon a serious matter. 11

—MOST CREATIVE—

WINNER: recombobulation area: An area at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee in which passengers that have just passed through security screening can get their clothes and belongings back in order. 94

long photo: A video of 90 seconds or less. Used by the photo-sharing web site Flickr. 5

skadoosh: A nonsense interjection popularized by Jack Black in the movie Kung Fu Panda. 3

rofflenui: A blended New Zealand English-Maori word that means “rolling on the floor laughing a lot.” 1

—MOST UNNECESSARY—

WINNER: moofing: From “mobile out of office,” meaning working on the go with a laptop and cell phone. Created by a PR firm. 35/53

First Dude: The husband of a governor or president. 36/43

bromance: A very close relationship between two heterosexual men. 28

—Most OutrageouS—

WINNER: terrorist fist jab: A knuckle-to-knuckle fist bump, or “dap,” traditionally performed between two black people as a sign of friendship, celebration or agreement. It was called the “terrorist fist jab” by the newscaster E. D. Hill, formerly of Fox News. 88

body-snarking: Posting pictures and commenting negatively on the bodies of the people in them. 10

fish pedicure: A cosmetic procedure in which fish eat the dead skin off the feet. 9

baby mama: From a man’s point of view, a woman to whom he is not married and who is the mother of his child. 2

—MOST EUPHEMISTIC—

WINNER: scooping technician: A person whose job it is to pick up dog poop. 66

age-doping: The falsification of records to show that an athlete meets participation requirements for a sporting event. 32

thought showers: Coined by a British city council because the synonym “brainstorming” was said to be offensive to epileptics. 11

—Most Likely to Succeed—

WINNER: shovel-ready: Used to describe infrastructure projects that can be started quickly when funds become available. 47/76

Tw-, tweet-, twitt- Combining forms all connoting a relationship to Twitter, a free nano-blogging service. 27/19

[name] the [job]: Joe the Plumber, etc. 12

Phelpsian: Excellent in the fashion of swimmer Michael Phelps, who won eight medals and set seven world records in the 2008 Summer Olympics. 6

-licious: A suffix which connotes desirability or attractiveness of the thing whose name it is combined with. 1

—Least Likely to Succeed—

WINNER: PUMA: An acronym for Party Unity My Ass, used by Democrats who were disaffected after Hillary Clinton failed to secure a sufficient number of delegates. It was later said to stand for Party Unity Means Action. 88

nuke the fridge: To ruin a movie franchise through the arrogance of a successful producer or director. 14

-cation: Suffix connotating “vacation” in blends like mancation, staycation, hurrication, evacucation. 1

—NEW CATEGORY: ELECTION-RELATED WORDS—

WINNER: maverick: A person who is beholden to no one. Widely used by the Republican Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates, John McCain and Sarah Palin. Also in the adjectival form mavericky, used by Tina Fey portraying Palin on Saturday Night Live. 73

lipstick on a pig: An adornment of something that can’t be made pretty. 37

hopey-changey: Derisive epithet incorporating Obama’s two main buzzwords (also dopey hopey changey). 8

hockey mom: A mother who spends a great deal of time and money aggressively abetting her children’s interest in the sport of hockey. 2

Founded in 1889, the American Dialect Society is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it. ADS members are linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, historians, grammarians, academics, editors, writers, and independent scholars in the fields of English, foreign languages, and other disciplines. The society also publishes the quarterly journal American Speech.

The American Dialect Society is open to all persons worldwide who have an interest in language. Membership includes four annual issues of the society's academic journal, one complete scholarly work per year from the Publication of the American Dialect Society series, and subscription to its email newsletter. There is a discounted membership rate for students at any academic level, who are especially encouraged to join.

The product of one of the other hats I wear:

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[ The short URL to this post is http://americandialect.org/woty2008/ ]

Early nominations for the American Dialect Society's 2008 word of the year vote are now available, including three batches from society members who specialize in following language trends, and a list of the most-nominated terms from the general public in the US and Canada.

All nominations will be considered for the American Dialect Society’s 19th annual word-of-the-year (WOTY) vote, the longest-running vote of its kind in the Anglophone world and the WOTY event up to which all others lead. It will be held in San Francisco on Friday, January 9, 2009, and is open at no cost to members of the press and public. Detailed information on where and when the final vote will be held is here.

Judging by the nomination trends, two major events preoccupied North America over the last 12 months and dominated its discourse. An impressive 51% of the nominations were related to the American presidential election, including 13.5% that were plays on Barack Obama's name, 2.7%% that were related to Joe (as in Joe the Plumber or Joe Sixpack), and 2.2% that were related to the name of Sarah Palin. Coming in a distant second were the 19% of the nominations related to the financial crisis.

The top individual nominations from the public so far, in order of popularity:

1. change 11.7%
2. bailout 9%
3. maverick 4%
4. to vet; vetting 3.6%
5. Obama-nation/Obomination/Obamination treated as one item 2.7%
6. (tie) game-changer, hope, and Obamamania each with 2.2%
7. (tie) Obamanos and you betcha, each with 1.8%
8. (tie) Joe Six-Pack and meh, each with 1.3%

More nominations, with definitions and supporting information, are available from these society members:

• Nominations from Grant Barrett, chair of the American Dialect Society's New Words Committee and its vice president of communications and technology; co-host of the nationwide public radio show A Way with Words; and editor of the Double-Tongued Dictionary.

• Nominations from Wayne Glowka, Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Reinhardt College in Waleska, Georgia, and former editor of the "Among the New Words" column of the society's journal American Speech.

• Nominations from Ben Zimmer, executive producer of the Visual Thesaurus, and member of the Executive Council of the American Dialect Society.

Media contact information for each nominator is included in the files above.

Nominations from the public can still be sent to this address.

The best "word of the year" candidates will be:

—new or newly popular in 2008
—widely or prominently used in 2008
—indicative or reflective of the national discourse

Multi-word compounds or phrases that act as single lexical items are welcomed, as well.

Sub-categories for "word of the year" include most useful, most creative, most unnecessary, most outrageous, most euphemistic, most likely to succeed, and least likely to succeed.

The vote is informed by the members’ expertise in the study of words, but it is far from a solemn occasion. Members in the 119-year-old academic organization include linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, university students, and independent scholars. In conducting the vote, they act in fun and do not pretend to be officially inducting words into the English language. Instead, they are highlighting that language change is normal, ongoing, and entertaining.

Previous winners can be found here.

The American Dialect Society is open to all persons worldwide who have an interest in language. Membership includes four annual issues of the society's academic journal, one complete scholarly work per year from the Publication of the American Dialect Society series, and subscription to its email newsletter. There is a discounted membership rate for students at any academic level, who are especially encouraged to join.

My fifth annual "buzzwords of the year" article has been published by the New York Times. I'll also be fielding questions about buzzwords, and about language in general, on the Times’ Ideas blog.