{"id":3675,"date":"2009-11-17T05:50:23","date_gmt":"2009-11-17T05:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2009\/11\/the-word-of-the-year-unfriend.html"},"modified":"2009-11-17T05:50:23","modified_gmt":"2009-11-17T05:50:23","slug":"the-word-of-the-year-unfriend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/11\/the-word-of-the-year-unfriend.html","title":{"rendered":"The word of the year: “unfriend”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebookers will recognize its meaning. And now it is officially entering the lexicon<\/a>: <\/p>\n

\n“Unfriend” has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, chosen from a list of finalists with a tech-savvy bent.<\/p>\n

\"Thumbnail<\/a><\/span>Unfriend was defined as a verb that means to remove someone as a “friend” on a social networking site such as Facebook.<\/p>\n

“It has both currency and potential longevity,” said Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer for Oxford’s U.S. dictionary program, in a statement.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Other words deemed finalists for 2009 by the dictionary’s publisher, Britain’s Oxford University Press, came from other technological trends, the economy, and political and current affairs.<\/p>\n

In technology, there was “hashtag,” which is the hash sign added to a word or phrase that lets Twitter users search for tweets similarly tagged; “intexticated” for when people are distracted by texting while driving, and “sexting,” which is the sending of sexually explicit SMSes and pictures by cellphone.<\/p>\n

Finalists from the economy included “freemium,” meaning a business model in which some basic services are provided for free, and “funemployed,” referring to people taking advantage of newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests.<\/p>\n

In the political and current affairs section, finalists included “birther,” meaning conspiracy theorists challenging President Barack Obama’s U.S. birth certificate, and “choice mom,” a person who chooses to be a single mother.<\/p>\n

Novelty words making the shortlist were “deleb,” meaning a dead celebrity, and “tramp stamp,” referring to a tattoo on the lower back, usually on a woman.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ll leave it to others to parse the spiritual and sociological ramifications of “unfriendship.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facebookers will recognize its meaning. And now it is officially entering the lexicon: “Unfriend” has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, chosen from a list of finalists with a tech-savvy bent. 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