Countdown to the 1,000,000th Word!
4,882 remain as of Top HollyWORDIEs of 2007
“Call it, Friendo” “I drink your milkshake” and “Juno-verse”
San Diego , Calif. March 11, 2008. “Call it, Friendo” from the multi-Oscar winner No Country for Old Men, ‘Drink your milkshake” from There Will Be Blood, and the various phrasings from what has come to be known as the Juno-verse, from the teen pregnancy sleeper, were named the Top HollyWORDIEs of 2007. The annual survey by the Global Language Monitor tracks the words from Hollywood that most influenced the English Language. “Maddness? This is S-P-A-R-T-A!” from The 300, and "I’m not the guy you kill; I’m the guy you buy off.” from Michael Clayton rounded out the top five.
"Tú decides, amigo" El Pais (Madrid)
“This year, the top HollyWORDS tended to be phrases rather than individual words as in years past,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor “The selected phrases have already begun to seep into the ‘English language as evidenced by even a cursory web search.”
“High Five!!! Its sexy time!’ from Borat! were the top words of 2006, while 'Brokeback' from Brokeback Mountain , “Pinot” from Sideways, and “wardrobe malfunction” were nabbed for top honors previous to that.
The Top HollyWORDS of 2007 follow:
1. “Call it, Friendo.” (No Country for Old Men) – Chigurth’s flip of the coin (Javier Bardem).
2. “I drink your milkshake.” (There Will Be Blood) – “I drink it up!” Daniel Day Lewis.
3. Juno-verse (Juno) -- phraseology includes "doodle that can't be undid,” “Silencio”, and, of course, "Shoulda gone to China , because I hear they give away babies like free iPods." (Ellen Page).
4. “Maddness? This is S-P-A-R-T-A!” (The 300) – Kin Leonardis engages the Persians in Battle (Gerald Butler).
5. “I’m not the guy you kill; I’m the guy you buy off.” (Michael Clayton) – Michael Clayton’s self description (George Clooney)
6. “I think I am beginning to disappear.” (Away From Her) -- (Julie Christie)
7. “Either you're somebody, or you ain't nobody.” (American Gangster) – Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington).
8. “Squeezin' that watch won't stop time.” (3:10 to Yuma ) – Ben Wade (Russell Crowe)
9. “Sometimes birth and death go together.” (Eastern Promises) -- Anna (Naomi Watts)
10. “It was the things you don't choose that makes you who you are.” (Gone Baby Gone) -- Casey Affleck as Patrick Kenzie
‘Obama’ as a Word Enters the English Language
Watch the CNN Segment
San Diego, California, (March 3, 2007) The latest word to enter the English language is ‘obama’ in its many variations, according to the Global Language Monitor (GLM), GLM tracks the growth and evolution of the English language around the globe. The word is derived from the name, Barack Obama, the Senator from Illinois, and a top contender for the Democratic nomination for the US Presidency. Obama- is used as a ‘root’ for an ever-expanding number of words, including: obamamentum, obamaBot (new!), obamacize, obamarama, obamaNation, obamanomics, obamican, obamafy, obamamania, and obamacam. The list is growing.
In August 2007, GLM noted that ‘obama’ had become a political buzzword, ranking No. 2 on its Top Political Buzzwords list of the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Presidential names that have made the leap include Jeffersonian, Lincolnesque, Nixonian, and Clintonesque (referring to former president Bill Clinton).
Many names have made the leap into the language including OK (from the nickname US President Martin Van Buren “Old Kinderhook”); jacuzzi, kodak, macadam, Caesarian section (after Julius Caesar); decibel (the measure of sound), Hertz, and frisbee. [Read More.]
GLM in Recent Scholarship
Top Words of 2007
History of Top Words of the Year from 2000!
‘Hybrid’ bests 'Surge' as Top Word
‘Climate Change’ is Top Phrase
Al Gore’ is Top Name San Diego, CA and Henderson, NV (December 13, 2007) ‘Hybrid’ is Top Word, ‘Climate Change’ is Top Phrase, and ‘Gore’ is Top Name atop the Global Language Monitor's annual global survey of the English language. The Top Smiley is ?-) for ‘’pirate’. The most understood word on the planet is the word OK. And the estimated number of words in the English language is 995,115, just 4,884 from the million-word mark.
See the Video Announcement of the Top Words of 2007
The analysis was completed using GLM’s Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI), the proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet. The words are tracked in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum and velocity. GLM’s global network of language observers have nominated English-language words throughout the year from the world over.
"The idea of planetary peril and impending climatic doom resonated throughout our linguistic analysis, with the various words and phrases garnering hundreds of millions of citations; in the end this narrowly outdistanced the word 'surge' that also had a disproportionate impact upon 2007's linguistic landscape." said Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor. For 2007 these words were culled from throughout the English-speaking world which now numbers some 1.35 billion speakers and and now includes such diverse cultures as China, the Philippines, and India.
Why a 'Green' Word was Chosen as WOTY
The Top Ten Words of 2007 1. Hybrid – Actually Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV). Chosen to represent all things green from biodiesel to wearing clothes made of soy, to global warming to living with a zero-carbon footprint. (From the Latin hybrida, a variation of ibrida for "mongrel," specifically "offspring of a sow and a wild boar,") 2. Surge - The controversial political and military strategy of winning the war in Iraq.
3. Bubble – As in housing bubble, bursting. Also, Credit crunch.
4. Smirting – The new-found art of flirting while being banished outside a building for smoking.
5. Pb – The symbol lead, Atomic No. 82. The culprit in innumerable toy recalls this year.
6. Ideating – Latest in a long line of verbalisms: the descendent of concepting and efforting.
7. Ω-3 (Greek letter omega-3) -- Also written as Omega 3; the healthy fatty acid.
8. Cleavage – As in ‘woman of cleavage,’ a touchy campaign subject.
9. Amigoization -- Increasing Hispanic influence in California, the Southwest and into the Heartland.
10. Bluetooth – A technology to connect electronic devices by radio waves.
The Top Smiley or Emoticon: ?-) The smiley for ‘pirate’, thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean. Arrrrrgh!
The Top HollyWORD gone global: Brokeback -- GLM's top HollyWORD of 2006 now recognized by Chinese Ministry of Educations as new word for 'gay,' with ideograms for ‘broke' and 'back'.
The Top Ten Phrases for 2007
1. Climate change – The warming of the Earth’s atmosphere due to natural cycles (politically sensitive; believed to be primarily outside the control of man)
2. ‘Ho-Ho-Ho’ – Santa’s trademark phrase. In Australia officials are suggesting ‘Ha-Ha-Ha’ because the former may scandalize the children.
3. All-time low – The phrase apparently grafted next to the president’s name in the media.
4. Theory of Everything – Garrett Lisi’s especially simple theory of the Universe that unites all forces and gravity in one elegant structure.
5. Planetary Peril – Al Gore’s trademark phrase to describe the Earth’s current condition.
6. Wristband Wagon – Wearing your heart on your … wrist. Pink against breast cancer, red against third-world poverty, ‘camouflage’ (or yellow as in yellow ribbon) to support the troops,
7. No Noising – Chinese/English hybrid (Chinglish) for ‘quiet please!’
8. Fade to black – From the Soprano’s series finale to the Hollywood writers’ strike
9. Fossil Fuels – The enemy of the Greens: Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas (anything hydrocarbon-based).
10. Fashion tribe: Persons who follow a particular fashion with a tribe-like mindset: Examples include EMO, Hip-hop or Goth.
The Top Ten Names for 2007
1. Al Gore – Conveniently, doesn’t need the presidency to top the list.
2. The Decider -- George W. Bush, still president after all these years.
3. Bono – U2’s front man out in front on Third World debt relief.
4. Obama & Hillary -- Barack’s name now qualifies as a buzzword; quite unusual, though Hil comes close.
5. Hugo Chavez – The Gadfly of Latin America
6. Vladimir Putin -- The supreme leader (President, Prime Minister, whatever) of the Russian Federation.
7. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- Iranian President suggests moving Israel to Europe.
8. Pope Benedict XVI -- continues to engage Muslim leadership in thoughtful discussions.
9. David Beckham and Posh Spice – Yet another ‘new’ type of Hollywood power couple.
10. Fidel Castro – The head one of the few remaining Communist states lives yet another year.
Most Understood Word on the Planet: O.K.
Popularized by US President (1837 -1841) Martin Van Buren's nickname, Old Kinderhook, from his birthplace in New York State. His re-election slogan was 'Martin Van Buren is O.K'.
The Number of Words in the English Language: 995,117
Estimated as of
Recent Headlines
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ZDnet on the Most Confusing Acronym (SOA)
NY Times' Safire finally acknowledges existence of HollyWords that GLM has been highlighting since 2004
Ben MacIntyre (London Times) on sexiness of large vocabulary
Wikipedeia: GLM citation named as Landmark in its history
Hindustan Times: Arabs ahead of the English in cyberspace? Der Spiegel: Chinglish Die Sache mit dem ding
Top 10 Most Confusing High Tech Terms
San Diego, Calif. and Henderson, NV October 16, 2007. In a worldwide internet and media analysis, The Global Language Monitor has found the most confusing yet frequently cited high tech buzzwords in 2007 to be iPOD, Flash, Cookie, Nano and Kernel followed by Megahertz, Cell (cell as in cell phone), Plasma, De-duplication, and Blu-Ray. Read More.
To see the Video Announcement, Click on Herr (Mega)Hertz..
Top Television Buzzwords of 2007
San Diego. September 16, 2007. (Updated) The Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com) named “Surge” from the Iraq War political and military strategy, “That’s Hot®” Paris Hilton’s popular expression that is now a registered trademark, “D’oh!” from The Simpsons and The Simpsons Movie, and "Blackout" from the Sopranos series finale as the top television buzzwords impacting Global English for the 2007 Season. Video Read More
To see the Video Announcement, click on the image above.
Top Political Buzzwords of 2008 Election
San Diego, California (August 20, 2007) (Updated) The Top Political Buzzwords for the first seven months of 2007 were named earlier today by the Global Language Monitor (GLM) in its first ranking of the 2008 presidential campaign. To see the Video Announcement, click on the image below.
. Political buzzwords are terms of phrases that become loaded with emotional freight beyond the normal meaning of the word. For example, the word surge has been in the English-language vocabulary since time immemorial. However, in its new context as an Iraq War strategy, it inspires a set of emotions far beyond the norm. Read More Top Fashion Capitals of 2007
To see the Video Announcement, click above.
San Diego. August 1, 2007. The Top Fashion Cities of 2007 have been named by the Global Language Monitor in its annual global survey. Topping the list for 2007 are New York, Rome, Paris, London, Milan, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, and Singapore. [Read More.]
The New York Times: The Real Estate Bubble -- The Power of Words
Heckova job, Brownie!' Tops List of 2005 Bushisms
San Diego, California (December 30, 2005) The Top Bushisms for 2005 were released earlier today. FEMA director Michael Brown; "In my line of work you've got ... to kind of catapult the propaganda" explaining his Communications strategy; and "I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?" scribbled on a note to Secretary of State Condi Rice. Read More.
Top Words of 2005: 'Refugee', 'Outside the Mainstream' and '(Acts of) God' San Diego, California (December 16, 2005) Refugee, Outside the Mainstream, and (Acts of) God were selected as leading the Top Word, Phrase and NameLists of 2005. Read More.
Click here to read The World Press Summary of the Top Events of 2005
Top Politically inCorrect Words for 2005: Misguided Criminals, Intrinsic appitude and Thought Shower
San Diego, California (Updated November 29, 2005) Misguided Criminals, Intrinsic Aptitude, and Thought Shower top the list of the most egregious examples of politically correct language found in 2005. Read More.
Click here to Watch WCCO's Video (Minneapolis)
To see the Video Announcement, click on the image above. 
