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Posts with tag: oxford-word-of-the-year | Return to the IWJ Homepage
New Oxford American Dictionary's Word of the Year is Unfriend
Oxford University Press announced that the New Oxford American Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2009 is unfriend. It is something that happens frequently on social networks like Facebook.
unfriend - verb - To remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site such as Facebook.
As in, "I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight."
"It has both currency and potential longevity," notes Christine Lindberg, Senior Lexicographer for Oxford’s US dictionary program. "In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year. Most "un-" prefixed words are adjectives (unacceptable, unpleasant), and there are certainly some familiar "un-" verbs (uncap, unpack), but "unfriend" is different from the norm. It assumes a verb sense of "friend" that is really not used (at least not since maybe the 17th century!). Unfriend has real lex-appeal."
If Twitter gets popular enough you have to wonder if they will consider "unfollow" in 2010. If you are on Twitter you can follow the IWJ on Twitter account, @iwj.
Posted on November 16, 2009
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