Published: November 20, 2009 03:16 pm      

Choose your words, and your friends, wisely

There are a lot of words to sum up the year 2009. I would find it difficult to pick just one. Thank heaven the good folks that produce the Oxford American Dictionary take it upon themselves each year to pick a word to sum it all up for us.

The Oxford University Press produces the Oxford American Dictionary and has been around basically forever, so everyone listens to them. It’s kind of like when you’re 40-something years old and your 80-year-old mother tells you that the sky is no longer blue, it is now yellow. You feel she might be crazy or perhaps heavily medicated, but she’s old, so you listen to her. And plus, you know, she’s your mom. She would probably box your ears for you if you argued with her. For the record, the Oxford University Press would probably not box your ears if you didn’t like their word.

Anyway, each year Oxford University Press tracks how the English language is changing and chooses a word that, they feel, best reflects the mood of the year. This is apparently a very important job because these guys are still employed while thousands of highly skilled and trained individuals throughout the United States are unemployed.

Thank goodness, because how could we as Americans ever make it through another year without the Oxford English Press picking a word for us? If they ever faltered, God forbid, we would have to round up some of our good ol’ government money that seems to be overflowing out of Washington and bail them out.

So what word did the folks at O.U.P. decide best sums up the year 2009? “Unfriend.” Yes, you read right. “Unfriend.” They must have stumbled across that word while they were playing on Facebook and Twitter when they were supposed to be “working.” Of all the words heard relentlessly repeated this year, I would think they could have done so much better.

As a matter of fact, let’s go back to the whole “bailout” thing. Have you heard that word much this year? Doesn’t that pretty much sum up the year in America? Wall Street seems to know the word pretty well. Maybe we should ask them for the word of the year.

How about “recession”? Have you heard that word at all, say perhaps several times on the news every single day this year? Or “stimulus”? Or “change”? Any of this ring a bell? How about “unemployment,” a word that so many Americans, but not the employees in charge of annual words at the Oxford University Press, are familiar with?

Then there are “healthcare,” “prescription,” and “medication,” all ideal words to sum up life in America this year. If you don’t believe me, turn on the television and witness the relentless commercials, or perhaps ask my 80-year-old mother who spends most of her income on these three little, unimportant words.

But no, our word of the year is “unfriend.” Because the Oxford English Press says so, and they are old, so they must know what they are doing. I hope you are not a fan of the O.E.P. on Facebook or a follower on Twitter. If so, I suggest you “unfriend” them. You can do better.

— Rebecca Todd is a freelance writer from Clayton. Contact her at btodd@tds.net.