For More Information, call 001.512.801.6823 or email info@LanguageMonitor.com.
December 7, 2017, Austin, Texas (Updated) – Truth has been named the 2017 Word of the Year for Global English (#WOTY2017) by the Global Language Monitor, in its eighteenth annual global analysis. In addition, the Weinstein Effect has been named the Top Phrase and Chinese leader Xi Jingping the Top Name of 2017. Following ‘Truth’ were the words Narrative, Opioids, Awoke, and Nuclear Option. Rounding out the Top Ten were Deep State, Robot Apocalypse, Higher Level of Fake News, Blessee, and Lean Into.
“Since the turn of the century, the Global Language Monitor has been naming the words of global English that have had the most profound influence upon the language, the culture, and/or the world of the 21st century,” said Paul JJ Payack, President, and Chief Word Analyst. GLM ‘s methodology, true to its Silicon Valley heritage, is to examine the totality of Global English with the tools now available to better understand the underlying trends that shape our words and, hence, our world.”
GLM tracks the top trending words three times during the year before the final assessment is released at year end. Below are the Global Language Monitor’s 2017 Words of the Year for Global English.
Global Language Monitor’s 2017 Top Words of the Year for Global English
Rank, Word, Previous Rank, Definition
Truth (1) — Let’s face it. The conversation is all about truth, or lack thereof.
Narrative (2) — As GLM noted in ’08, Narratives began replacing facts in politics; a harbinger to ’fake news’.
Opioids (10) — More deaths than gun violence and automobiles crashed combined.
Post-Truth (16) — Objective facts are less influential than appeals to emotion or the prevailing narrative.
Woke (New) — Awakening to issues of social and racial justice.
Brexit (4) — [United Kingdom] Definition according to Theresa May: “Brexit means Brexit”.
Blessee (New) — [RSA, South Africa] Those who are shown financial favor through a ‘Sugar Daddy’ (New)
Non-binary (13) — Gender identity defined as neither male nor female.
Anthropocene (15) — The current geological time period where human activities have had a major environmental impact on the Earth.
Latinx (11) — Neologism for the Hispanic heritage of any stripe.
Ransomware (New) — A type of malware where targeted sites are ‘captured’ and rendered useless until a ransom is paid to the hackers.
Tradie (New) — [Australia] Short for any worker in the trades: tradesmen, e.g., electricians (sparkies), truckers (truckies), chippies (carpenter) and the like.
Flip (New) — Any quick financial transact5on meant to turn a quick profit, particularly involving real estate.
Covfefe — The Trumpian Typo Heard ‘Round the world.
#Resist — From Latin resistere, from re- + sistere to take a stand
Appropriation (Cultural) — Now refers to the exploitation of an ‘ethnic’ culture by those of white European heritage.
Missed the Cut and former rank: Antifa (18), Alt-right (17), Bigly (5), and Populism (19)
Global Language Monitor’s 2017 Top Phrases of the Year for Global English
Rank, Word, Previous Rank, Definition Weinstein Effect (New) — (#MeToo) Emboldened women across the globe confront those who have been abused them in their past.
Weinstein Effect (and #MeToo) (New) — Emboldened women across the globe confront those who have been abused them in their past.
Nuclear Option (7) — The use of nuclear weapons by either side in the on-going and decades-long North Korean standoff.
Deep State (New) — The idea that entrenched bureaucracies, beholden to no one, controlling the ship of state with little concern for elected officials. In effect, a ‘Shadow’ government
For Real (FR) (New) — [Indian] It took a half a century for the hip lingo of Venice Beach to proliferate to the call centers of India as FR.
Robot Apocalypse (New) — The oncoming usurpation of Humankind by robots and other advanced forms of Artificial Intelligence.
Fake News (New) — A higher level (and far more dangerous method controlling the news) through special relationships, the tight control of events, planting sources, and keeping the actual facts to a tight inner circle.
Lean Into (New) — Being totally committed (or lean into) a cause, an initiative, or career choice.
Non-binary (13) — Gender identity defined as neither male nor female.
Memory Care (14) — Euphemism for treating Alzheimer and other forms of dementia
Cultural Appropriation — Now refers to the exploitation of an ‘ethnic’ culture by those of white European heritage.
Missed the Cut and former rank: Alt-right (17), Dumpster Fire (9), Nuclear Option for US Senate (6), and Safe Place (20).
Global Language Monitor’s 2017 Top Names of the Year
Rank, Name
Xi Jinping — General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
Donald J. Trump — President of the United States of America; Trump took the Top Honors in 2016 and 2015.
Pope Francis — Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church, the Bishop of Rome, and sovereign of Vatican City.
Angela Merkel — Angela Dorothea Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin — President of Russia
Theresa May — P)rime Minister of the United Kingdom
Kim Jung Un — North Korean Strongman
Narendra Modi — Prime Minister of India
Donald Tusk — President of the European Commission
Shinzō Abe — Prime Minister of Japan
Justin Trudeau — Prime Minister of Canada
Hurricane Harvey and Maria — Hurricanes that devastated Houston and Puerto Rico, respectively
Methodology: The words are culled from throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 2.35 billion speakers (January 2018 estimate) GLM employs its NarrativeTracker technologies for global Internet and social media analysis. NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 375,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources as they emerge.
About the Global Language Monitor
In 2003, The Global Language Monitor (GLM) was founded in Silicon Valley by Paul J.J. Payack on the understanding that new technologies and techniques were necessary for truly understanding the world of Big Data, as it is now known.
Today, from its home in Austin, Texas GLM provides a number of innovative products and services that utilize its ‘algorithmic services’ to help worldwide customers protect, defend and nurture their branded products and entities. Products include ‘brand audits’ to assess the current status, establish baselines, and competitive benchmarks for current intellectual assets and brands, and to defend products against ambush marketing.
These services are currently provided to the Fortune 500, the Higher Education market, high technology firms, the worldwide print, and electronic media, as well as the global fashion industry, among others.
For more information, call 1.512.801-6823, email info@LanguageMonitor.com, or visit www.LanguageMonitor.com.
Austin, Texas, December 7, 2017. If you kept abreast of the daily press reports, you would think an outbreak of mass hysteria or at least amnesia had swept over the nations of the West. The world’s leading print and electronic media acted as if the concept of truth had been circumvented, or even, contravened, and sounded alarm after alarm that what we all knew as facts were no longer discernible. The source of this disruption in the news cycle, of course, was what came to be known as fake news and post-truth.
For historical comparisons of a number of the terms used in this analysis, GLM used the Google Ngram Viewer. You can use the Ngram Viewer to chart frequencies of comma-delimited search strings. The Google Ngram Viewer uses yearly counts from sources printed between 1500 and 2008, though in some cases later dates of publications are included.
In the first example, frequencies of citations between and among a number of words used to describe the Top Words of the Year for 2016 are plotted between 1940 and the present.
Figure 1. Relative Frequency of citations among words used to describe the Top Words of the Year for 2016
Figure 2. Close-up on Relative Frequency Among Some Top Words of the Year for 2016
Figure 3. Comparisons of the Words Truth Vs. Lie Since 1740
This is why early in the century, the Global Language Monitor put into place a methodology that clearly states that each considered word or phrase must adhere to the published criteria (see below). The methodology calls for words and phrases from the entire global English linguasphere to be considered, as well as each fulfilling geographic and demographic requirements. This automatically excludes the lists created by those organizations that rely on polls and other such non-scientific tools
A Methodology Optimized for the Wired World -- GLM’s Word of the Year rankings are based upon actual word usage
throughout the English-speaking world, which now approaches some 2.38 billion people, who use the language
as a first, second, business language. To qualify for these lists, the words, names, and phrases must meet
three criteria: 1) found globally, 2) have a minimum of 25,000 citations, and 3) have the requisite ‘depth’
and ‘breadth’ of usage. Depth is here defined as appearing in various forms of media; breadth that they must
appear world-over, not limited to a particular profession or social group or geography. The goal is to find
the word usage that will endure the test of time.
Global Language Monitor began to use newly available technologies to document the Words of the Year for Global English at the turn of the 21st century, with the idea to encapsulate and capture the essence of the preceding twelve months in a sort of linguistic amber.
Consider for a moment that fact that in 2009 GLM named ‘twitter’ as the Global English Word of the Year, not only as a social media phenomenon but as a potential Weapon of Mass Disruption (or even destruction). Witness: 1) the Arab Spring and 2) the actions of one Donald J. Trump.
Political Correctness
In a time so debilitated by the specter of political correctness (both from the left and the right), it seems rather demeaning to advance the concept of ‘fake news’, once you study its etymology, tracing back the origins of the word ‘fake’.
Cambridge Dictionaries’ definition of fakir: A Muslim (or, loosely, a Hindu) religious ascetic who lives solely on alms. Origin: Early 17th century: via French from Arabic faqīr. Fakir, Arabic Faqīr (“poor”), originally, a mendicant dervish. In mystical usage, the word fakir refers to man’s spiritual need for God, who alone is self-sufficient. Although of Muslim origin, the term has come to be applied in India to Hindus as well.
Fakirs are generally regarded as holy men who are possessed of miraculous powers, such as the ability to walk on fire or to subsist by looking only at the face of God.
In a Languagelog posting by Mark Liberman, How Fakirs Became Fakers, Edmund Wilson comments (from the grave) that Fakirs began to become entwined with fakers with a common usage that arose out of the American spiritualism craze of the 19th century. This is where one can witness the shift in meaning for the word fakir, from an Islamic religious ascetic to the Hindu “Yogi,” to a sort of street corner or carnival barker or “producer of illusions”.
In other words ‘fake news” joins a long list of ethnic slurs that have imbued American English since before the founding of the republic. They are too many to repeat. However the most common of these might be ‘ethnic-group’ giver’ or ‘ethnic-group rich’. Specifically, using the term fake news could be said to humiliate and/or cast aspersions upon Muslim and/or Hindu holy men. Recent searches of the New York Times found 869 instances of ‘fake news,’ while searches of The Washington Post found 1,352. None mentioned the historical dubiousness of the practice.
You can see this linguistic shift peaking around 1940 and continuing to this day.
Figure 4. Shift in Meaning Between Fakir and Faker During the 1940s
In retrospective, even the whole idea of fake news and post-truth is a bit of an over-reaction. The organizations that were disrupted the most by the appearance of unchecked, non-verifiable and inadequately sourced stories, were those upon which the world came to rely and depend upon to safeguard the information delivered to their audiences as verifiably true. To continue in these roles as stewards of truth, it was incumbent upon them to put into place new methods of testing information.
The unvarnished truth is that the dominant news gathering and distribution organizations fell behind the curve as sources of information multiplied by orders of magnitude. Neither did they comprehend the astonishingly rapid advances in computing power. Finally, the evolution of communication and social media tools advanced far more quickly than the old line media’s ability to adapt to and absorb them.
Decades of reporting on the decline of the US manufacturing base never seemed to register to old media as applicable lessons for themselves. In the mid-’80s, an HBS case study inquired as to which fared better — companies with strategic plans in place or those that had none. The answer: a dead heat. Apparently, companies without strategic plans were able to adjust more quickly to changing market conditions while companies with strategic plans all too often, steadfastly rode these plans straight into oblivion. (For more information on this phenomenon, check out the first two editions of In Search of Excellence. Prepare to be shocked.)
What is Truth?
The debate over what is truth has been ongoing since the search for an ‘honest man’ by Diogenes the Cynic, the dialogues of Socrates as recorded by Plato, the rhetorical question Pontius Pilate asked of the Christ, the Confessions of Augustine, the Summa of Aquinas, and the monastic scriptoria of Medieval Europe.
In the scriptoria of the Middle Ages, an elaborate system was constructed to ensure that no discrepancies were introduced into Scripture or highly-prized scholarly works — before the coming of movable type and the printing press. Can you imagine the decibel level of a discussion that played out over the misrepresentation of a single iota when dealing with the work of a Church Father, the Apostle Peter (or Paul), or the words of the Lord himself? This, of course, was complicated by the fact that there were few grammatical rules, little or no punctuation, no spaces between and among words, nor between sentences or paragraphs, and the like.
Even in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Harvard and Yale engaged in the same sort of tussle about the owner of Truth as the Right and Left are engaged in today. Harvard chose the Latin word Veritas (Truth) on its official seal, while Yale considered the matter closed by adding Lux et Veritas. (Light and Truth) to its own shield. Three hundred years later, in an academic world perhaps overly concerned with political correctness, Harvard won top honors for the Top Politically (in)Correct Word of 2016.
Watching the nightly news and reading the traditional (for the last two centuries, that is) media, one has the distinct sense that what they perceive as unprecedented almost chaotic circumstances is actually that of the normalcy of the new reality, that of communications at the speed of light that the internet has foisted upon us.
We keep hearing about this most unusual of election cycles, but this is only true when looking through the prism (and historical construct) of the traditional news gathering operations. What is called the 24-hour News Cycle is actually just the tip of the tsunami washing over the planet at an ever-quicker pace. Indeed, the nature of the beast hasn’t changed at all. It is our outdated techniques, that haven’t kept up with the new reality: News now emanates at the speed of thought, from tens of thousands or, even, millions of sources.
Can you imagine the uproar in the monastic world when documents would be produced with little or no vetting against the time-honored standards?
In 2008 GLM published an article, “Is Merriam-Webster its own Best Frenemy,” where we noted that its newest additions to its Collegiate Dictionary, were older than most entering college students at the time (28 years vs 18!) Indeed, for the most part, technology could solve most of the Post-truth and Fake News phenomena.
Since the turn of the 21st century, the Global Language Monitor (GLM) has named the Top Words of Global English. A decade earlier, the American Dialect Society began to name the Word of The Year for mostly American (and a bit of British) English with little or no use of the then emerging computer power. By the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, the BBC chose the Global Language Monitor to determine the Top English Words of the Decade worldwide while they chose an UK-based Linguist to highlight those of the UK.
One of the most surprising trends in the evolution of the Words of the Year over the last two decades is that they have become decidedly more parochial, and more trivial, as the century has progressed. Now there are about a dozen players, all competing for the same space, so the race has been one of dumbing down the various nominees and ultimate winner in an apparently desperate attempt to seek the lowest common denominator, or even worse, to optimize entertainment value.
Perhaps most surprising of all is the apparent lack of preparation by the venerable incumbent organizations responsible for gathering, sifting through, and certifying information that then qualifies as verifiably newsworthy.
Apocalyptic language has been widely cited as word of the year worthy for the last several years — and rightly so. In fact, Apocalypse and Armageddon took Global Language Monitors’ honors as Top Global English Words of 2012. And though GLM’s proprietary algorithms have displayed a predictive element, it’s entirely possible that Apocalyptic language did indeed peak some five years too soon.
About the Global Language Monitor
In 2003, The Global Language Monitor (GLM) was founded in Silicon Valley by Paul J.J. Payack on the understanding that new technologies and techniques were necessary for truly understanding the world of Big Data, as it is now known.
Today, from its home in Austin, Texas GLM provides a number of innovative products and services that utilize its ‘algorithmic services’ to help worldwide customers protect, defend and nurture their branded products and entities. Products include ‘brand audits’ to assess the current status, establish baselines, and competitive benchmarks for current intellectual assets and brands, and to defend products against ambush marketing.
These services are currently provided to the Fortune 500, the Higher Education market, high technology firms, the worldwide print, and electronic media, as well as the global fashion industry, among others.
For more information, call 1.512.801-6823, email info@LanguageMonitor.com, or visit www.LanguageMonitor.com.
GLM’s Top Words of the Year Record the History of the 21st Century. Many of the shifts first noted by the trend and narrative-tracking techniques of GLM can be found here, also.
Austin, Texas, March 3, 2017 (Update) — One hundred years ago, in the year 1915 to be precise, a number of historical trends had already been set in motion that would come to dominate the rest of the century, for better or for ill. The Global Language Monitor, which tracks global trends through the Big Data-based analysis of Global English, has recently completed a three-year study to better ascertain what trends are we now tracking that will portend future events.
“The first fifteen years of the 20th c. set the trajectory for the remainder of the century — and beyond.” said Paul JJ Payack, president and Chief Word Analyst, the Global Language Monitor. “This included the seeds of World War, Bolshevism, Communism, German Nationalism, the carving up of the Middle East without regard to societal structures, total warfare, the introduction of weapons of mass destruction, flight, electrification of rural areas, the internal combustion engine, the dependence on hydrocarbon for fuel, Einstein’s first papers on relativity, the arms race, the explosive growth of cities, and so much more.
If the same can be said for the 21st century at the 15-year mark, what trends can we see that will be likely shape the rest of the 21st century, into the 22nd — and possibly beyond.”
The results for the First 15 Years of 21st Century & the Trends They Portend follow in the format of Rank, Word or Phrase, Comment, and Trend.They Portend
Top Words for the First 15 Years of 21st Century & the Trends They Portend
Rank
Word or Phrase
Comment
21st Century Trend
1
Web/Internet (2000)
Some argue the most momentous change to human society since the Renaissance — also reflected in language usage
Some argue the most momentous change to human society since the Renaissance. Web 2.0 was the tipping point where the Internet became embedded into everyday life.
2
China (2009)
2015 is the year that China surpasses the US as the Earth’s economic engine in terms of PPE. If China holds the title for as long as the US, it will be the year 2139 before it turns over the reigns.
The Rise of China will dominate 21st century geopolitical affairs like US in the 20th
3
Selfie (2013)
Evidently an ego-manical madness gripped the world in 2013-14.
The more people populate the planet, the greater the focus on the individual.
4
404 (2013)
The near-universal numeric code for failure on the global Internet.
404 will not merely signify the loss of an individual connection but the shutdown of whole sectors of society
5
9/11 (2001)
An inauspicious start to the 21st Century.
The early 20th c. saw the seeds of Bolshevism, German Nationalism, and Fascism. The seeds thus planted in the 21st c. are equally foreboding
6
OMG (2008)
One of the first texting expressions (Oh my God!), another was BFF as in Best Friend Forever
First sign that the Internet would change language. Basically the successor to Morse’s ‘What hath God Wrought?
7
Sustainable (’06)
The key to ‘Green’ living where natural resources are wisely conserved and thus never depleted.
Made small impact in 2006; its importance grows every year and will continue to do so as resources ARE depleted.
8
Hella (2008)
An intensive in Youthspeak, generally substituting for the word ‘very’ as in ‘hella expensive’
The world is being subdivided into the various tribes of youth (Trans national to follow.)
9
N00b (2009)
A beginner or ‘newbie’, with numbers (zeroes) replacing the letter Os, emphasizing a new trend in written English
The Geeks will inherit the Earth
10
Futebol (2011)
Ready or not, the World Cup of Futebol, Futbol, Football, and Soccer was on display in Brasil
The word Apocalypse has been in ascendance in English for some 500 years. However, recent years has witnessed an unprecedented resurgence
Wars and rumors of war appear to be the least of it
15
Occupy (2011)
‘Occupy’ has risen to pre-eminence through Occupy Movement, the occupation of Iraq, and the so-called ‘Occupied Territories’
The gulf between the haves and have nots, the North and the South, the 1% and all the rest has only worsened through a century of unprecedented economic, scientific and social progress
16
Tsunami (2004/5)
Southeast Asian Tsunami took 250,000 lives
The Southeast Asian Tsunami was a thirty-foot swell that resulted in a quarter of a million deaths. Might a 300-foot rise in sea-level engender a ‘slow Tsunami with deaths in the millions?
17
Inflation (Cosmic) (2014)
OK, so that the Universe expanded a gazillion times faster than the speed of light is now a fact. Way Cool.
At the beginning of the 20th c., scientists thought our local galaxy was the entire universe; since then our view of the universe has expanded a billion billion times
18
Singularity (2015)
Singularity was originally the name for Cosmic Genesis Event (the Big Bang),
Spoiler Alert: Now used to describe when computer intelligence surpasses that of humans (Possibly before mid-century).
19
Global Warming (2000)
Rated highly from Day One of the decade
The next few hundred (or few thousand) years are gong to be a longer haul than we can now imagine
Words without letters conveying emotional responses, such as smileys
Emoticons. Smileys, Emoji’s communication continues to evolve in unexpected ways
22
Emoji (2014)
In 500 years people will look back on the creation of a new alphabet (the alphaBIT): Letters + numbers + (emoticons) diacritical marks + emoji (picture words).
The arrival of the new English Alphabet (the AlphaBIT) is apparently at hand
23
Pope Francis (2013)
Also Top Name of the Year for 2013.
A new type of Pontiff sets the stage for all those Popes who follow …
24
WMD (2002)
Iraq’s (Non-existent) Weapons of Mass Destruction
The nuclear device dropped Hiroshima weighed tons, the new backpack versions, mere pounds.
25
Telomeres (2015)
Telomeres are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes.
When telomeres wear away, the chromosomes are destroyed, and death ensues. The goal: protect telomeres, extend life
26
German Ascendance (2015)
One of the architects of the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues her reign as the most powerful woman on the planet
Germany’s tragic misadventures of the 20th c., belie its dominance of the Euro Zone in the 21st.
27
Anthropocene (2015)
A proposed geologic epoch when humans began to impact natural processes
An impact that will only grow for better or ill throughout the century.
28
God Particle (2011)
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) continues its quest for the Higgs boson, popularly known as the God Particle.
Scientists have calculated a one in fifty million chance that the LHC will generate a small black hole that could devour the Earth.
29
Denier (2014)
An ugly new addition to the trending words list as it has become an evermore present invective with sinister overtones (fully intended).
Political discourse continues to sink to unprecedented levels
30
Carbon Footprint (2008)
The amount of carbon released in a process or activity
Burning a gallon of petrol produces enough CO² to melt 400 gallons of ice at the poles.
Slumdogs continue to multiply as MegaCities continue to seemingly endlessly expand
32
Truthiness (2006)
Steven Colbert’s addition to the language appears to be a keeper; While something may not meet the standard of truth, it certainly appears to be true
Truthiness seems to set the new standard, unfortunately
33
Change (2008)
The top political buzzword of the 2008 US Presidential campaign
Change will continue as a top word into the 22nd century — and beyond
34
Chinglish (2005)
The Chinese-English Hybrid language growing larger as Chinese influence expands
Chinese-English will inevitably cross-fertilize as the two great economic powers contend into the 22nd Century
35
Google (2007)
Founders misspelled actual word ‘googol’
Is Google the prototype of the a new “Idea foundry’
36
Twitter (2009)
The ability to encapsulate human thought in 140 characters
The ability to encapsulate human thought in wisps of wind (or electron streams) will almost certainly follow
37
H1N1 (2009)
More commonly known as Swine Flu
Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Ebola, it will only get worse with the hand of man only abetting the enemy
38
Bubble (2007)
One financial bubble after another as we move into the 21st century
Let’s see: Communism, socialism, fascism, command economies, the silent hand of the market, China’s hybrid — evidently the business cycle will persist
39
The Great War (2014)
The centennial of World War I begins four years of soulful commemorations — as the forces it unloosed continue to ripple into (and most probably through) the 21st c.
As the Great War (and the ravages thereof} continue into the 21st c., what at the odds that its ramifications will continue throughout the 21st
40
Political Transparency (2007)
A noble idea from the Campaign that was among the first casualties of the Obama Administration
The explosion of knowledge portends less transparency not more …
The words are culled from throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 1.83 billion speakers (January 2013 estimate) GLM employs its NarrativeTracker technologies for global Internet and social media analysis. NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 300,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources as they emerge.
About the Global Language Monitor
Early in the last century, The Global Language Monitor (GLM) was founded in Silicon Valley by Paul J.J. Payack on the understanding that new technologies and techniques were necessary for truly understanding the world of Big Data, as it is now known. Silicon Valley is located in what is now the CaliMinor Federation.
Today, from its home in Austin, Texas GLM provides a number of innovative products and services that utilize its ‘algorithmic services’ to help worldwide customers protect, defend and nurture their branded products and entities. Products include ‘brand audits’ to assess the current status, establish baselines, and competitive benchmarks for current intellectual assets and brands, and to defend products against ambush marketing.
These services are currently provided to the Fortune 500, the Higher Education market, high technology firms, the worldwide print and electronic media, and the global fashion industry, among others.
Summary: “Since the turn of the century, the Global Language Monitor has been naming the words of global English that have had the most profound influence upon the language, the culture, and/or the world of the 21st century,” said Paul JJ Payack, President, and Chief Word Analyst. “GLM ‘s methodology, true to its Silicon Valley heritage, is to examine the totality of Global English with the tools now available to better understand the underlying trends that shape our words and, hence, our world. Our goal remains to detect these small changes in the language that often presage titanic shifts in the way humans communicate.”
The Global Language Monitor’s 18th Annual Edition
For Immediate Release,
For More Information, call 001.512.801.6823 or email info@LanguageMonitor.com.
November 16, 2017, Austin, Texas – Truth has been named the 2017 Word of the Year for Global English (#WOTY2017) by the Global Language Monitor, in its eighteenth annual global analysis. In addition, the Weinstein Effect has been named the Top Phrase and Chinese leader Xi Jingping the Top Name of 2017. Following ‘Truth’ were the words Narrative, Opioids, Awoke, and Nuclear Option. Rounding out the Top Ten were Deep State, Robot Apocalypse, Higher Level of Fake News, Blessee, and Lean Into.
“Since the turn of the century, the Global Language Monitor has been naming the words of global English that have had the most profound influence upon the language, the culture, and/or the world of the 21st century,” said Paul JJ Payack, President, and Chief Word Analyst.
“GLM ‘s methodology, true to its Silicon Valley heritage, is to examine the totality of Global English with the tools now available to better understand the underlying trends that shape our words and, hence, our world.
Our goal remains to detect these small changes in the language that often presage titanic shifts in the way humans communicate.”
In the recent past, some of the shifts first noted by the trend and narrative-tracking techniques of GLM include:
The use of number sequences as clearly defined words (Y2k, Web 2.0)
The use of Twitter as a new form of stylized human communication (2008)
The introduction of emoji symbols as an addition to and transformation of the alphabet (2012)
The rise of the Narrative presaging the rise of ‘fake news’ and the decline of ‘truth-based’ journalism. (2006)
The mounting impact of the ‘sustainability’ and ‘Green’ movements (2006)
The Rise of Microaggressions as a significant form of ‘bullying’ (2015)
The continued emergence of English as the first truly global language (2000-)
Big Data as the most frequently used but least understood word in High Technology (2011)
The application of data mining techniques to global English to better understand the significance of global events and trends (2013)
The Rise of China as the most significant (and de-stabilizing) event of the 21st century, thus far. (2008)
Unveiling the racist underpinnings behind the rise of Fake News.
GLM has used these technologies to track political and social trends.
The eighteenth year of the 21st century provided words that accompanied the outsized geopolitical events of the age: nuclear diplomacy, shattered trade alliances, the rise (and re-emergence) of nationalism in various parts of the planet, as well as varying degrees of ‘wokeness’ and intense debates over the role of the past in the present-day world. Perhaps, most surprisingly, a debate over the nature of truth worthy of Athenian philosophers, of 12th-century Schoolmen — and the 18th c. Founders is currently quite the rage.
Global Language Monitor’s 2017 Words of the Year for Global English
Rank, Word, Previous Rank, Definition
Truth (1) — Let’s face it. The conversation is all about truth, or lack thereof.
Narrative (2) — As GLM noted in ’08, Narratives began replacing facts in politics; a harbinger to ‘fake news’.
Opioids (10) — More deaths than gun violence and automobiles crashed combined.
Post-Truth (16) — Objective facts are less influential than appeals to emotion or the prevailing narrative.
Woke (New) — Awakening to issues of social and racial justice.
Brexit (4) — [United Kingdom] Definition according to Theresa May: “Brexit means Brexit”.
Blessee (New) — [RSA, South Africa] Those who are shown financial favor through a ‘Sugar Daddy’ (New)
Non-binary (13) — Gender identity defined as neither male nor female.
Anthropocene (15) — The current geological time period where human activities have had a major environmental impact on the Earth.
Latinx (11) — Neologism for the Hispanic heritage of any stripe.
Ransomware (New) — A type of malware where targeted sites are ‘captured’ and rendered useless until a ransom is paid to the hackers.
Tradie (New) — [Australia] Short for any worker in the trades: tradesmen, e.g., electricians (sparkies), truckers (truckies), chippies (carpenter) and the like.
Flip (New) — Any quick financial transact5on meant to turn a quick profit, particularly involving real estate.
Covfefe — The Trumpian Typo Heard ‘Round the world.
#Resist — From Latin resistere, from re- + sistere to take a stand
Appropriation (Cultural) — Now refers to the exploitation of an ‘ethnic’ culture by those of white European heritage.
Missed the Cut and former rank: Antifa (18), Alt-right (17), Bigly (5), and Populism (19)
Global Language Monitor’s 2017 Top Phrases of the Year for Global English
Rank, Word, Previous Rank, Definition
Weinstein Effect (New) — (#MeToo) Emboldened women across the globe confront those who have been abused them in their past.
Nuclear Option (7) — The use of nuclear weapons by either side in the on-going and decades-long North Korean standoff.
Deep State (New) — The idea that entrenched bureaucracies, beholden to no one, controlling the ship of state with little concern for elected officials. In effect, a ‘Shadow’ government
For Real (FR) (New) — [Indian] It took a half a century for the hip lingo of Venice Beach to proliferate to the call centers of India as FR.
Robot Apocalypse (New) — The oncoming usurpation of Humankind by robots and other advanced forms of Artificial Intelligence.
Fake News (New) — A higher level (and far more dangerous method controlling the news) through special relationships, the tight control of events, planting sources, and keeping the actual facts to a tight inner circle.
Lean Into (New) — Being totally committed (or lean into) a cause, an initiative, or career choice.
Non-binary (13) — Gender identity defined as neither male nor female.
Memory Care (14) — Euphemism for treating Alzheimer and other forms of dementia
Cultural Appropriation — Now refers to the exploitation of an ‘ethnic’ culture by those of white European heritage.
Missed the Cut and former rank: Alt-right (17), Dumpster Fire (9), Nuclear Option for US Senate (6), and Safe Place (20).
Global Language Monitor’s 2017 Top Names of the Year
Rank, Name
Xi Jinping — General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
Donald J. Trump — President of the United States of America; Trump took the Top Honors in 2016 and 2015.
Pope Francis — Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church, the Bishop of Rome, and sovereign of Vatican City.
Angela Merkel — Angela Dorothea Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin — President of Russia
Theresa May — P)rime Minister of the United Kingdom
Kim Jung Un — North Korean Strongman
Narendra Modi — Prime Minister of India
Donald Tusk — President of the European Commission
Shinzō Abe — Prime Minister of Japan
Justin Trudeau — Prime Minister of Canada
The Top Words, Phrases, and Names since the Turn of the Century
2016:
Top Words: No. 1 Truth, No. 2 Narrative, No. 3, #Resist
Top Phrases: No. 1 Make America Great Again No. 2 When they go low, we go high No. 3 The Electoral College
Top Names: No. 1 Donald Trump, No. 2 Vladimir Putin, No. 3 Neil Gorsuch
2015:
Top Words: No. 1 Microaggression (Safe Space, Trigger, Unsafe, Snowflake, White Privilege)
Top Phrases: No. 1 Migrant Crisis, No. 2 Je Suis Charlie, No. 3 Almond Shaming
Top Names: No. 1 Donald J. Trump, No. 2 Alan Kurdi, No. 3 Pope Francis
2014:
Top Words: No. 1 The Heart ♥ Emoji (for love), No. 2 Hashtag, No. 3 Vape
Top Phrases: No. 1 Hands Up, Don’t Shoot; No. 2 Cosmic Inflation, No. 3 Global Warming
Top Names: No. 1 Ebola, No. 2 Pope Francis, No. 3 World War
2013:
Top Words: No. 1 ’404’, No.2 Fail, No.3 Hashtag
Top Phrases: No. 1 Toxic Politics, No. 2 Federal Shutdown, No.3 Global Warming/Climate Change
Top Names: No. 1. Pope Francis, No. 2 ObamaCare, No.3 NSA
2012:
Top Words: No. 1 Apocalypse / Armageddon, No.2 Deficit, No. 3 Olympiad
Top Phrases: No. 1 Gangnam Style, No. 2 Climate Change/Global Warming, No. 3 Fiscal Cliff
Top Names: No. 1 Newtown and Malala Yousafzai, No. 3 Xi Jinping
2011:
Top Words: No. 1 Occupy, No.2 Fracking, No.3 Drone
Top Phrases: No. 1 Arab Spring, No. 2 Royal Wedding, No.3 Anger and Rage
Top Names: No. 1 Steve Jobs, No. 2 Osama bin-laden and Seal Team Six, No.3 Fukushima
2010:
Top Words: No. 1 Spillcam, No. 2 Vuvuzela, No. 3 The Narrative
Top Phrases: No. 1 Anger and Rage, No. 2 Climate Change, No. 3 The Great Recession
Top Names: No. 1 Hu Jintao, paramount leader of China, No. 2 iPad, No. 3 Barack Obama
2009:
Top Words: No. 1 Twitter, No. 2 Obama-, No. 3 H1N1
Top Phrases: No. 1 King of Pop, No. 2 Obama-mania, No. 3 Climate Change
Top Names: No. 1 Obama, No. 2 Michael Jackson, No. 3 Mobama
2008:
Top Words: No. 1 Change, No. 2 Bailout, No. 3 Obama-mania
Top Phrases: No. 1 Financial Tsunami, No. 2 Global Warming, No. 3 “Yes, We Can!”
Top Names: No. 1 Barack Obama, No. 2 George W. Bush, No.3 Michael Phelps
2007:
Top Words: No. 1 Hybrid (representing all things green), No. 2: Surge
Top Phrase: Climate Change
Top Name: Al Gore
2006:
Top Word: Sustainable
Top Phrase: Stay the Course
Top Name: Dafur
2005:
Top Words: No. 1, Refugee No. 2: Tsunami No. 3: Katrina
Top Phrase: Outside the Mainstream
Top Name: (acts of ) God
2004:
Top Word: Incivility (for inCivil War)
Top Phrase: Red States/Blue States No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Dubya/Rove
2003:
Top Word: Embedded
Top Phrase: Shock and Awe, No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Saddam Hussein, No. 2 Dubya
2002:
Top Word: Misunderestimate
Top Phrase: Threat Fatigue
Top Name: W (Dubya)
2001:
Top Word: Ground Zero
Top Phrase: ‘Lets Roll’
Top Name: The Heros
2000:
Top Word: Chad
Top Phrase: Dot.com
Top Name: W (Dubya)
Methodology: The words are culled from throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 2.35 billion speakers (January 2018 estimate) GLM employs its NarrativeTracker technologies for global Internet and social media analysis. NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 300,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources as they emerge.
For More Information, go to LanguageMonitor.com or call 001.512.801.6823.
In 2003, The Global Language Monitor (GLM) was founded in Silicon Valley by Paul J.J. Payack on the understanding that new technologies and techniques were necessary for truly understanding the world of Big Data, as it is now known.
Today, from its home in Austin, Texas GLM provides a number of innovative products and services that utilize its ‘algorithmic services’ to help worldwide customers protect, defend and nurture their branded products and entities. Products include ‘brand audits’ to assess the current status, establish baselines, and competitive benchmarks for current intellectual assets and brands.
These services are currently provided to the Fortune 500, Olympic Partners, leading Higher Education institutions, high-tech firms, the worldwide print and electronic media, the global fashion industry, among others.
Paul JJ Payack lecturing on Big and Ephemeral Data in Shanghai
Payack was cited as the first Shanghai International Creative City Think Tank Master.
GLM foresees a time in the near future where data doubles every hour, every minute, then every second.
To address this unfolding reality, GLM created the tools you need to address an enterprise in a world never at rest, where the facts can change before you locked your strategy into place, in the world where the social media of today is but a hint of what will emerge in the coming months and years.
GLM’s specialized products and services have been built from the ground up for Big and bigger date, for a marketplace ever in flux, where the only constant changes.
Ephemera
In 2003, GLM’s founder, Paul JJ Payack, first conceived of a new class of data that he called Ephemera, or Ephemeral Data.
Global Language Monitor’s proprietary algorithms (including the PQI and Narrative Tracker) are used to plum ephemeral data on any topic for any industry worldwide, quickly and accurately. Many organizations have used GLM as an additional input to their already robust analytical solutions. Call 1.512.801.6823 or email info@LanguageMonitor.com
Subprime Meltdown (New York Times)
In 2006, The New York Times worked with the Global Language Monitor to assess the state of the New York City real estate market. GLM’s used its proprietary POI technology, which The Times described as “an algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet in relation to frequency, context, and appearance in the global media.” The study has been hailed as presaging the coming Financial Meltdown, now known as the Great Recession.
The New York Times featuring GLM’s PQI
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GLM’s Founder on BBC America
GLM as a Source of Record
GLM continues to be cited hundreds of by the leading print and electronic media the world over. In fact, the worldwide print and electronic media have come to rely on The Global Language Monitor for its expert analysis on cultural trends and their subsequent impact on various aspects of culture.
Worldwide print and electronic media have come to rely on GLM for it Trend Tracking and analytics-based analyses.
BBC Cites GLM for Words of the Decade
At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the BBC used two global experts to choose the words that would sum up the decades, represented English as spoken in the UK, the other English as spoken in America, Australia and the rest of the world.
The Global Language Monitor’s president was chosen for Global English as shown below.
A representative sampling includes: CNN, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Associated Press, United Press International, Knight-Ridder, USAToday, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Charlotte Observer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, San Jose Mercury, New York Post, NPR, FoxNews, ABC, NBC, CBS, ChinaNews, Peoples Daily, The National Post, The Sydney Morning Herald, The BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Company, The Canadian Broadcasting Company, The Cape Town Argus, El Pais (Madrid), The Daily Mail (Scotland), The Hindustan Times, The Gulf News (Qatar), and various electronic and print media on six continents.
About Paul JJ Payack
Paul JJ Payack has served as a senior executive of three Fortune 500 high technology companies (Unisys, Dun & Bradstreet, and StorageTek), and three Silicon Valley technology companies (Apollo Computer, Intelliguard Software, Legato Systems) that were acquired by four other Silicon Valley giants (EMC, Dell, Oracle, and HP), as well as numerous start-ups and re-starts. (For Payack’s Linkedin bio, go here.)
Currently, GLM’s President and Chief Word Analyst, he also was the founding president of yourDictionary.com. These two language sites attract millions of page views a month. He founded GLM in Silicon Valley in 2003 and moved it to Austin, Texas in 2008.
Payack taught scientific and technological communications at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Texas-Arlington and Babson College, the Federal Reserve Bank (NY), GM/Hughes Aircraft, and many others.
He is a frequent guest on the media circuit including CNN, the BBC, NPR, the CBS, Australia Broadcasting Company and Chinese Radio and Television.
Payack is the author of some eighteen collections (seven currently in print), including A Million Words and Counting, Kensington (New York) as well as co-author with Edward ML Peters of The Paid-for Option (Tower Oaks Press), an analysis of the healthcare crisis in the USA. (For a sampling of Payack’s creative work, including metafiction, flash fiction, and collage art, go here.)
Payack studied philosophy and psychology at Bucknell University and was graduated from Harvard University where he studied comparative literature and classical languages, also publishing his first collection of metafiction, A Ripple in Entropy. Later he earned a CAGS with a focus on fine arts; his thesis being a Play in Seven Episodes. Worlds to Shatter, Shattered Worlds.
He currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife, Millie, and family. Contact Payack directly: 001 512 801 6823 or pauljjpayack@gmail.com or @languagemonitor.
A US web monitoring firm has declared the millionth English word to be Web 2.0, a term for the latest generation of web products and services.
Matt Frei reports on English’s unique linguistic evolution and then spoke to Global Language Monitor’s Paul Payack who helped find this millionth English word.
BBCNEWS | Programmes | World News America | ‘Millionth English word’ declared
“As expected, English crossed the 1,000,000 word threshold on June 10, 2009 at 10:22 am GMT. However, some 400 years after the death of the Bard, the words and phrases were coined far from Stratford-Upon-Avon, emerging instead from Silicon Valley, India, China, and Poland, as well as Australia, Canada, the US and the UK,” said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor. “English has become a universal means of communication; never before have so many people been able to communicate so easily with so many others.”
“The English language is now being studies by hundreds of millions around the globe for entertainment, commercial or scientific purposes. In 1960 there were some 250 million English speakers, mostly in former colonies and the Commonwealth countries. The future of English as a major language was very much in doubt. Today, some 1.53 billion people now speak English as a primary, auxiliary, or business language, with some 250 million acquiring the language in China alone.”
There are 10,000 other stories hailing the arrival of the 1,000,000th word from Abu Dhabi, and Tehran, to Beijing, to Sydney, to Chicago and Sri Lanka.
Quote of the Week:
“What’s interesting about a million is that it’s such a tiny number compared to all the words we could have,” said Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading who studies the comings and goings of words across history. (Using any combination of seven consonants with two vowels, for example, creates more than 100-million potential words.) But even with a relatively small pile to call on, words are mostly fleeting. (The Oxford English Dictionary has a list of words that have appeared on record only once in hundreds of years.) A small number of essential words such as “two” or “you” – or their variations – are ancients in the language family, Dr. Pagel said. “Had you been wandering around the plains of Eurasia 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, you probably could have said ‘thou’ and someone would have know you were referring to them. We think that’s pretty astonishing.” Toronto Globe and Mail, June, 2008
Why Twitter was not in running for the 1,000,000th word
Austin, Texas June 13, 2009 – Since the 1,000,000th word in the English announcement earlier this week, a number of news organizations have inquired as to why Twitter, the prominent microblog, was not on the final list of words considered for No. 1,000,000. According to Paul JJ Payack, president and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor, ”The answer is quite straight-forward: Twitter is already a word, as is its companion, to tweet. Certainly, the 21st century definition of twittering is much different than that of the Middle English twiteren, which is similar to the Old High German zwizzirōn, both of which mean, well, to twitter or as Merriam-Webster’s defines it “to utter successive chirping noises” or “to talk in a chattering fashion”. Since it is already catalogued as a headword, 21st c. twittering is simply a new entry, a new definition, under the ancient headword, twitter”.
On June 10, the Global Language Monitor announced that Web 2.0 has bested Jai Ho, N00b and Slumdog as the 1,000,000th English word or phrase added to the codex of fourteen hundred-year-old language.
Web 2.0 beats Jai Ho & N00b as 1,000,000th English Word
English passed the Million Word mark earlier today, June 10 at 10:22 am GMT
Word Number 1,000,001: Financial Tsunami
Austin, Texas June 10, 2009 – The Global Language Monitor today announced that Web 2.0 has bested Jai Ho, N00b and Slumdog as the 1,000,000th English word or phrase. added to the codex of fourteen hundred-year-old language. Web 2.0 is a technical term meaning the next generation of World Wide Web products and services. It has crossed from technical jargon into far wider circulation in the last six months. Two terms from India, Jai Ho! and slumdog finished No. 2 and 4. Jai Ho! Is a Hindi exclamation signifying victory or accomplishment; Slumdog is an impolite term for children living in the slums. Just missing the top spot was n00b, a mixture of letters and numbers that is a derisive term for newcomer. It is also the only mainstream English word that contains within itself two numerals. Just missing the final five cut-off, was another technical term, cloud computing, meaning services that are delivered via the cloud. At its current rate, English generates about 14.7 words a day or one every 98 minutes.
These are the fifteen finalists for the one millionth English word, all of which have met the criteria of a minimum of 25,000 citations with the necessary breadth of geographic distribution, and depth of citations.
1,000,000: Web 2.0 – The next generation of web products and services, coming soon to a browser near you. 999,999: Jai Ho! – The Hindi phrase signifying the joy of victory, used as an exclamation, sometimes rendered as “It is accomplished”. Achieved English-language popularity through the multiple Academy Award Winning film, “Slumdog Millionaire”. 999,998: N00b — From the Gamer Community, a neophyte in playing a particular game; used as a disparaging term. 999,997: Slumdog – a formerly disparaging, now often endearing, comment upon those residing in the slums of India. 999,996: Cloud Computing – The ‘cloud’ has been technical jargon for the Internet for many years. It is now passing into more general usage. 999,995: Carbon Neutral — One of the many phrases relating to the effort to stem Climate Change. 999,994: Slow Food — Food other than the fast-food variety hopefully produced locally (locavores). 999,993: Octomom – The media phenomenon relating to the travails of the mother of the octuplets. 999,992: Greenwashing – Re-branding an old, often inferior, product as environmentally friendly. 999,991: Sexting – Sending email (or text messages) with sexual content. 999,990: Shovel Ready – Projects are ready to begin immediately upon the release of federal stimulus funds. 999,989: Defriend – Social networking terminology for cutting the connection with a formal friend. 999,988: Chengguan – Urban management officers, a cross between mayors, sheriff, and city managers. 999,987: Recessionista – Fashion conscious who use the global economic restructuring to their financial benefit. 999,986: Zombie Banks – Banks that would be dead if not for government intervention and cash infusion. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — - In addition, the 1,000,001st word is Financial Tsunami – The global financial restructuring that seemingly swept out of nowhere, wiping out trillions of dollars of assets, in a matter of months.
Each word was analyzed to determine which depth (number of citations) and breadth (geographic extent of word usage), as well as number of appearances in the global print and electronic media, the Internet, the blogosphere, and social media (such as Twitter and YouTube). The Word with the highest PQI score was deemed the 1,000,000th English language word. The Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI) is used to track and analyze word usage. Global Language Monitor has been tracking English word creation since 2003. Once it identifies new words (or neologisms) it measures their extent and depth of usage with its PQI technology.
English Language Millionth Word Finalists Announced, including: alcopops, bangster, de-friend, n00b, quendy-trendy, slumdog, and wonderstar
English to Pass Millionth Word June 10 at 10:22 am GMT
Million Word March Now Stands at 999,824
Austin, Texas May 29, 2009 – The Global Language Monitor today announced the finalists for the Million Word March. The English Language will cross the 1,000,000 word threshold on June 10, 2009 at 10:22 am Stratford-Upon-Avon time.
“The Million Word milestone brings to notice the coming of age of English as the first, truly global Language”, said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor. “There are three major trends involving the English language today: 1) An explosion in word creation; English words are being added to the language at the rate of some 14.7 words a day; 2) a geographic explosion where some 1.53 billion people now speak English around the globe as a primary, auxiliary, or business language; and 3) English has become, in fact, the first truly global language.”
Due to the global extent of the English language, the Millionth Word is as likely to appear from India, China, or East L.A.as it is to emerge from Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s home town). The final words and phrases under consideration are listed below. These words represent each of the categories of Global English that GLM tracks, Since English appears to be adding a new word every 98 minutes or about 14.7 words a day, the Global Language Monitor is selecting a representative sampling. You can follow the English Language WordClock counting down to the one millionth word at www.LanguageMonitor.com.
These words that are on the brink of entering the language as the finalists for the One Millionth English Word:
Australia: Alchopops – Sugary-flavored mixed drinks very much en vogue.
Chinglish: Chengguan – Urban management officers, a cross between mayors, sheriff, and city managers.
Economics: 1) Financial Tsunami – The global financial restructuring that seemingly swept out of nowhere, wiping out trillions of dollars of assets, in a matter of months. 2) Zombie Banks – Banks that would be dead if not for government intervention and cash infusion.
Entertainment: Jai Ho! — From the Hindi, “it is accomplished’ achieved English-language popularity through the multiple Academy Award Winner, “Slumdog Millionaire”.
Fashion: 1) Chiconomics – The ability to maintain one’s fashion sense (chicness) amidst the current financial crisis. 2) Recessionista – Fashion conscious who use the Global economic restructuring to their financial benefit; 3) Mobama – relating to the fashion-sense of the US First Lady, as in ‘that is quite mobamaish’.
Popular Culture: Octomom (the media phenomenon of the mother of the octuplets).
Green Living: 1) Green washing – Re-branding an old product as environmentally friendly. 2) E-vampire – Appliances and machines on standby-mode, which continually use electrical energy they ‘sleep’. 3) Slow food: — Food other than the fast-food variety hopefully produced locally (locavores).
Hinglish: Chuddies – Ladies’ underwear or panties.
Internet: 1) De-follow – No longer following the updates of someone on a social networking site. 2) De-friend – No longer following the updates of a friend on a social networking site; much harsher than de-following. 3) Web 2.0 – The next generation of web services.
Language: Toki Pona – The only language (constructed or natural) with a trademark.
Million Word March: MillionWordWord — Default entry if no other word qualifies.
Music: Wonderstar – as in Susan Boyle, an overnight sensation, exceeding all reasonable expectations.
Poland: Bangsters – A description of those responsible for ‘predatory’ lending practices, from a combination of the words banker and gangster.
Politically incorrect: 1) Slumdog – a formerly disparaging comments upon those residing in the slums of India; Seatmates of size – US airline euphemism for passengers who carry enough weight to require two seats.
Politics: 1) Carbon neutral — One of the many phrases relating to the effort to stem Climate Change. 2) Overseas Contingency Operations – The Obama re-branding of the Bush War on Terror.
Sports: Phelpsian – The singular accomplishments of Michael Phelps at the Beijing Olympics.
Spirituality: Renewalist – Movements that encompass renewal of the spirit; also call ‘Spirit-filled’ movements.
Technology: 1) Cloud Computing – The ‘cloud’ has been technical jargon for the Internet for many years. It is now passing into more general usage. 2) N00b — From the Gamer Community; a neophyte in playing a particular game; used as a disparaging term. 3) Sexting – Sending email (or text messages) with sexual content.
YouthSpeak: Quendy-Trendy — British youth speak for hip or up-to-date.
Extra Credit:
French word with least chance of entering English Language: le courriel for E-Mail.
Most recognized English-language word on the planet: O.K.
Each word is being analyzed to determine which is attaining the greatest depth (number of citations) and breadth (geographic extent of word usage), as well as number appearances in the global print and electronic media, the Internet, the blogosphere, and social media (such as Twitter and YouTube). The Word with the highest PQI score will be deemed the 1,000,000th English language word. The Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI) is used to track and analyze word usage.
Global Language Monitor has been tracking English word creation since 2003. Once it identifies new words (or neologisms) it measures their extent and depth of usage with its PQI technology.
In Shakespeare’s day, there were only 2,000,000 speakers of English and fewer than 100,000 words. Shakespeare himself coined about 1,700 words. Thomas Jefferson invented about 200 words, and George W. Bush created a handful, the most prominent of which is, misunderestimate. US President Barack Obama’s surname passed into wordhood last year with the rise of obamamania.
There are fewer than 100,000 words in the French language;
There are some 6.5 billion folks on the planet; (and about 20 billion that have ever walked upon the Earth);
Fewer than 20,000 different words in the Bible, (actually, 12,143 in the English, 783,137 total in the King James Version, 8,674 in the Hebrew Old Testament, and 5,624 in the Greek New Testament);
And 24,000 differing words to be found in the complete works of Shakespeare, about 1,700 of which he invented.
Finally, if you emptied all the water out of Lake Tahoe and spread it evenly over all of California it would be about 14 inches deep, Not that anyone would ever attempt to do so. Or actually, care.
Which brings us to the number of words in English.
The central idea of writing is, of course, the idea. Ideas by their very nature are wispy sorts of things. This being so, you can’t grab an idea and do with it what you will. Rather the best for which one can hope is to encapsulate the idea and preserve it for time immemorial in some sort of ethereal amber. We call this amber, language; the basic building block of which is, of course, the word. (We are speaking now as poets and not as linguists.)
As such, writers of English have the good fortune of having hundreds of thousands of words from which to choose. When you think of it, the English language writer always has at least three words for any idea, each rooted in the Latin, the Germanic or Saxon tongues, and the Greek. Think of a word for human habitation: city, town, metropolis, and so on. And that’s just the start. In the English-speaking world, we also owe a heavy debt to Algonquin, and Hebrew, and Malay (ketchup anyone?) and Maori, and Zulu and Hmong among a multitude of others. I think you can spot the beginnings of a trend here.
And then there is the entire realm of ”jargon,” scientific and otherwise, those specialized patois or vocabularies known only to those in specific fields. Computer-related jargon is multiplying at an extraordinary rate. And since English has become the lingua Franca of the Internet, English words are being created and non-English words co-opted at an ever-quickening pace.
Scientists estimate that there are approximately 10,000,000,000 neurons in a typical human brain. Each of these neurons can theorectically interconnect with all the rest.
This being so, the number of interconnects within a single human brain is greater than the entire number of atomic particles in the universe.
If you equate these interconnects to ideas, or even thoughts, the number of potential words needed to express them is, indeed, staggering on the order of billions and billions of trillions.
This being said, I now unequivocally state that as of the 10th day of June in the year 2009 AD (or CE, whatever your preference), we estimate that there were some 1,000,000 words in the English language, plus or minus a handful.
It’s difficult to track the number of words in the English language, since neologisms — new words — are coined every day. The Global Language Monitor claims our lexicon will welcome its millionth word by the end of this month; other experts disagree.Whenever it does occur, will the millionth word be something from the business world, like “carpocalypse,” describing the state of the automotive industry? Or from Hollywood, like “momager,” the mother of a celebrity who also serves as business manager? In these stories, we look at our changing language and highlight some of the new words that have entered it.
The conquest of Global English is nearly complete. It is impossible to hold back this tide. The Tsunami of English has already swept over the earth. The question now is how to adjust to this new reality.
I have several suggestions. The first would be to master the language. Yes, acknowledge the sea-change, disassociate yourself from any political misgivings — and get on with it. Global English is here and now — and here to stay. Global English will reside, preside and thrive. At least in some form. Here are some possible threads of evolution (or devolution) of the language over the next 400 years. I chose this perspective because that is the same temporal distance we are from the days of Shakespeare and the King James Bible.
Keeping in mind that the best way to predict the future is to read the past, here are a number of differing scenarios, one of which will be the future of Global English
1. Cyber English: The robots take control of the language. This form of English would be ‘clipped’ and very precise (no ‘fuzzy’ logic here). Come to think of it, this would be a great leap backward to the time of the King’s English, as spoken in, say, Colonial India.
2. The Romanticization of English: The Language devolves into various local dialects that in time become robust languages in themselves. The precedent for this, of course, is Latin splintering into the Romance Languages (Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish). As Latin is still the Official Language of the Vatican City state, English will remain spoken in certain enclaves in North Carollina, western Virginia, and in the Desert Southwest.
3. Return to Proto-Indo-European. Not as outlandish as it might seem, as the Green movement decries the technological basis of much of Global English, and in a Back-to-Basics promotes the original P-I-E as a ‘green language’.
4. English captured by the Chinese: the Middle Kingdom strikes back and begins to stake a claim in English Language ownership, much as America has done so during the last century. The Chinese prove to be excellent caretakers of the language and develop many interesting ways to extend it throughout the Earth and beyond.
5. Revenge of the Nerds: Leetspeak Strikes Back. The Nerds control the language. All words have dozens of spellings and meanings. Letters, numbers and symbols intermix. Exposition is heavily encrypted. The precedent: The English language before the Noah Webster and the OED. Shakespeare’s many variations on his name is mere child’s play to the near-infinite variety of spelling your children’s children will be able to use for their names.
6. The Number of Words in the English Language
Academics will no longer fret at counting the number of words because the conquest of English will no longer be tainted by political, cultural, and social concerns. Once freed from these concerns, Everyone will be free to count words in the same manner that their scientific colleagues count the number of galaxies, stars and atomic nuclei.
We will then be able to count ALL the words: every name of every fungus, all the technical jargon, YouthSpeak, all the –Lishes, everything.
Dictionaries will not longer be the arbiters what’s a word? Questions of standing the test of time will be rendered inoperable. Words will bubble forth as a frothy sea-foam of insight and meaning. If a word is used by millions or even thousands of influential elites, regardless of class or any form of identity (gender, ethnic, class, national, or social) it will be deemed a word and recorded for posterity.
7. There will be no words only thoughts. This is a rather difficult scenario to explore, since words all but disappear. Dictionaries will be replaced by something much more ethereal, sort of like a directory of dreams, ideas and ideals.
The language will swell to tens of millions of ‘words’ and the fact of its crossing the 1,000,000, word barrier will be looked upon something quite quaint that happened in the ‘classic days’ of ‘Global English language (long before it assumed its then-current exalted position. In all probability, the words in this essay may seem closer to the works of Shakespeare and those of the King James Bible than those of the, say, twenty-fifth Century.
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AUSTIN, Texas, September 2017 — In another close battle between New York and Paris, New York took four of the five categories to take the Top Global Fashion Capitals crown for 2017. Since 2011, the Top spot has been traded between New York, Paris, and London, each taking the Top Spot twice. Completing the Top Ten for 2017following New York and Paris were Barcelona, Milano, Rome, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Las Vegas, and Dubai.
“Since we are expanding to include a number of cities, each with emerging and burgeoning fashion scenes, we are quite excited about the 2017 Global Fashion Capital rankings,” said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor. “Fashion continues to drive both economic growth for the region as well as a release of creativity that will most certainly impact their city, their region, and perhaps even the world”. #NYFW
The current 2017 rankings now include 63 fashion capitals. There are three new fashion capitals from West Africa: Accra, Ghana; Dakar, Senegal; and Lagos, Nigeria.
There is one new fashion capital from East Asia: Kuala Lumpur. There is one new fashion capital from the Middle East: Beirut, Lebanon. Before the various insurgencies in the region, Beirut was known as the Paris of the Middle East. There are two new fashion capitals from North America: Portland, Oregon known for its ‘weird’ culture, much like Austin, Texas and Columbus, Ohio known in the fashion world as the manufacturing headquarters of Henri Bendel, Victoria’s Secret, the Bath & Body Works, Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F), and others.
Comments
No. 3 Barcelona — Moving into Big Four Territory is Big News by definition.
No. 4 Milano — Reclaiming its Big Four status; hmm, perhaps all that re-thinking and revamping just might be having an impact (we’ll see in 2018).
No. 6 London — Had a great run earlier in the decade, but not so great lately (If you consider the No. 6 spot not so great).
No. 7 Amsterdam — Moving up 15 spots is quite a move.
No. 9 Vegas — Back in the Top Ten, more evidence that the Red Carpet experience does indeed have an impact.
No. 10 Dubai — More evidence that billions of dollars Do, indeed, have an impact.
No. 17 Seoul — Finally making the move in Asia, not No. 1, but a respectable No. 3 regionally.
No. 21 Washington, DC — A move into respectability!?
No. 28 Melbourne and No. 34 Sydney — Trading Places
No. 44 Portland, OR — A very nice debut.
No. 47 Kuala Lumpur — Another solid debut.
No. 46 Boston, No. 48 Miami, No.53 Chicago, No. 54 Houston, and No. 59 Toronto — All down by twenty spots, or more.
The Watch List for 2018 includes: Abidjan, Auckland, Jakarta, and other nominated by industry experts.
Top Fashion Capitals by Region
Europe: Paris, Barcelona, Milano, Rome, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Florence, Madrid, Stockholm, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Monaco.
India:: Mumbai and New Delhi (Mumbai (+24)
Australia: Melbourne and Sydney (+6)
East Asia: Singapore, Hong Kong. Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Bangkok
RSA: Johannesburg, Cape Town (+5)
Middle Europe: Prague, Moscow, Vienna, Warsaw, St Petersburg, and Krakow
Canada: Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver,
Mideast:: Dubai, Abu Dhabi
Spain: Barcelona and Madrid (+12)
Latin America: Rio de Janerio, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Mexico City. Caracas is on ‘Hiatus’.
Regional US: New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Dallas, Austin, Portland, OR, Boston, Miami, and Houston
Methodology: For this analysis, the Global Language Monitor used its proprietary Brand Affiliation Index (BAI), the same technology used to measure global brand equity for the Olympics, World Cup, the Fortune 500, and others. This exclusive, GLM longitudinal-study encompasses the prior three years to better assess short-term velocity and longer-term momentum. The study is a Big Data textual analysis based on billions of web pages, millions of blogs, the top 375,000 global print, and electronic media, and new social media formats as they appear. This survey, which was first made public in 2007.
Background: The Top Global Fashion Capitals are now recognized as the standard in the fashion world, as you can see below. For the 2017 edition, we are tracking more than three-score established and emerging centers of fashion. Our efforts have attracted an inordinate number of citations in the global media, as well as in academic, research and texts. For more than a decade now, the Global Language Monitor has employed its proprietary algorithms to cut through the world of Big Data establishing the definitive, nonbiased rankings of the Top Global Fashion Capitals.
The result is a longitudinal survey that runs for three years, with its final updating in the weeks before the yearly announcement. GLM surveys. billions of web pages, millions of blogs, the top 300,000 global print and electronic media, as well as new social media sources as they emerge. In effect, any and all databases available on the web, including key proprietary databases for specific content.
About the Global Language Monitor
In 2003, The Global Language Monitor (GLM) was founded in Silicon Valley by Paul J.J. Payack on the understanding that new technologies and techniques were necessary for truly understanding the world of Big Data, as it is now known. Previous to this Payack was the founding president at yourDictionary.com, and a senior executive for a number of leading high tech companies.
Today, from its home in Austin, Texas GLM provides a number of innovative products and services that utilize its ‘algorithmic services’ to help worldwide customers protect, defend and nurture their branded products and entities. Products include ‘brand audits’ to assess the current status, establish baselines, and competitive benchmarks for current intellectual assets and brands, and to defend products against ambush marketing.
These services are currently provided to the Fortune 500, the Higher Education market, high technology firms, the worldwide print and electronic media, and the global fashion industry, among others.
The English language well represents the tumultuous and tempestuous world of today.
Excellent Question, Will …
August 2017, Austin, TEXAS, and NEWYORK (Update) — The Global Language Monitor (GLM) today announced the Top Trending Words of the Year (#WOTY) for 2017 (Mid-year Update). The final Top Words of 2017 will be announced on November 16, 2017. This is an update to the Top Trending Words of the Year that GLM produces several times as the yeat 2017 unfolds.
Truth continues as the Top Word of the Year, while Narrative continues in second place. Reflecting the rising alarm GLM first pointed to during the first presidential debates, Opioids made the leap from No. 10 to No.3. Of the next seven spots, all were new to the rankings with the exception of the Nuclear Option (Korea), which moved up two spots to No. 5. New words included Woke, Deep State, and Robot Apocalypse. Regarding ‘fake news,’ newly unmasked as an ethnic slur, the term was supplanted by the concept of a ‘higher level of fake news’ — a time-honored methodology of creating and planting ‘legitimate’ news stories. The most downward trending were Brexit falling eight spots to No. 12, and No. 3 #Resist most dramatically dropping from No. 3 to No. 19.
GLM also announced that the Global English Word of the Year for 2016 was not a word but a meme: the blood-soaked image of Omran Daqneesh, five years old, sitting in an ambulance while awaiting treatment in Allepo, Syria. (Click Here to see Top Global English Words of 2016.)
“The amount of linguistic churn in this three-month span is interesting in the extreme. In fact, the English language well represents the tumultuous and tempestuous world of today.” said Paul JJ Payack, President, and Chief Word Analyst of GLM. “If this churn persists for a significantly longer period of time, this will presage an unprecedented moment in its history. “
‘Truth’ is Top Word of the Year, 2017 (#WOTY) in Both Analyses
Comparison with the earlier version continue below.
The Top Words, Phrases, and Names since the Turn of the Century
2016:
Top Words: No. 1 Truth, No. 2 Narrative, No. 3, #Resist
Top Phrases: No. 1 Make America Great Again No. 2 When they go low, we go high No. 3 The Electoral College
Top Names: No. 1 Donald Trump, No. 2 Vladimir Putin, No. 3 Neil Gorsuch
2015:
Top Words: No. 1 Microaggression
Top Phrases: No. 1 Migrant Crisis
Top Names: No. 1 Donald J. Trump
2014:
Top Words: No. 1 The Heart ♥ Emoji (for love) , No. 2 Hashtag , No. 3 Vape
Top Phrases: No. 1 Hands Up, Don’t Shoot; No. 2 Cosmic Inflation, No. 3 Global Warming
Top Names: No. 1 Ebola, No. 2 Pope Francis, No. 3 World War I
2013:
Top Words: No. 1 ’404’, No.2 Fail, No.3 Hashtag
Top Phrases: No. 1 Toxic Politics, No. 2 Federal Shutdown, No.3 Global Warming/Climate Change
Top Names: No. 1. Pope Francis, No. 2 ObamaCare, No.3 NSA
2012:
Top Words: No. 1 ApocalypseArmageddon, No.2 Deficit, No. 3 Olympiad
Top Phrases: No. 1 Gangnam Style, No. 2 Climate Change/Global Warming, No. 3 Fiscal Cliff
Top Names: No. 1 Newtown and Malala Yousafzai, No. 3 Xi Jinping
2011:
Top Words: No. 1 Occupy, No.2 Fracking, No.3 Drone
Top Phrases: No. 1 Arab Spring, No. 2 Royal Wedding, No.3 Anger and Rage
Top Names: No. 1 Steve Jobs, No. 2 Osama bin-laden and Seal Team Six, No.3 Fukushima
2010:
Top Words: No. 1 Occupy, No.2 Fracking, No.3 Drone
Top Phrases: No. 1 Anger and Rage, No. 2 Climate Change, No. 3 The Great Recession
Top Names: No. 1 Hu Jintao, paramount leader of China, No. 2 iPad, No. 3 Barack Obama
2009:
Top Words: No. 1 Twitter, No. 2 Obama-, No. 3 H1N1
Top Phrases: No. 1 King of Pop, No. 2 Obama-mania, No. 3 Climate Change
Top Names: No. 1 Obama, No. 2 Michael Jackson, No. 3 Mobama
2008:
Top Words: No. 1 Change, No. 2 Bailout, No. 3 Obama-mania
Top Phrases: No. 1 Financial Tsunami, No. 2 Global Warming, No. 3 “Yes, We Can!”
Top Names: No. 1 Barack Obama, No. 2 George W. Bush, No.3 Michael Phelps
2007:
Top Words: No. 1 Hybrid (representing all things green), No. 2: Surge
Top Phrase: Climate Change
Top Name: Al Gore
2006:
Top Word: Sustainable
Top Phrase: Stay the Course
Top Name: Dafur
2005:
Top Words: No. 1, Refugee No. 2: Tsunami No. 3: Katrina
Top Phrase: Outside the Mainstream
Top Name: (acts of ) God
2004:
Top Word: Incivility (for inCivil War)
Top Phrase: Red States/Blue States No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Dubya/Rove
2003:
Top Word: Embedded
Top Phrase: Shock and Awe, No. 2: Rush to War
Top Name: Saddam Hussein, No. 2 Dubya
2002:
Top Word: Misunderestimate
Top Phrase: Threat Fatigue
Top Name: W (Dubya)
2001:
Top Word: Ground Zero
Top Phrase: ‘Lets Roll’
Top Name: The Heros
2000:
Top Word: Chad
Top Phrase: Dot.com
Top Name: W (Dubya)
Methodology: The words are culled from throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 1.83 billion speakers (January 2013 estimate) GLM employs its NarrativeTracker technologies for global Internet and social media analysis. NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 300,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources as they emerge.
For More Information, go to LanguageMonitor.com or call 1.512.801.6823.
The articles included in this ThoughtTopper Institute series were first drafted by Paul JJ Payack over the last several years. Subsequently, some of the originals were expanded with Edward ML Peters, Ph.D. and published in The Hill and other publications.
Paul JJ Payack
The premise of the original articles was that economists and politicians and intellectual thought leaders had missed the essence of the profound worldwide economic, electronic, and academic transformations that had been underway for some time and would continue into the future if constrained by this profoundly limited vision.
In fact, the facts have borne out our original assumptions. The Global Economic Restructuring has continued unabated. China continues to rise, the US and the West continue to struggle, and the ancient question of what is real (and true) has again risen to the forefront.
The Lost Decade of Japan has indeed been replicated, as we had feared. The recovery did not mirror previous recoveries in the US. And the traditional manufacturing sector continues to erode.
Paul JJ Payack is president of Austin-based Global Language Monitor.Edward ML Peters, Ph.D. is the managing director of Austin-based ThoughtTopper Institute.
Their most recent book is “The Paid-for Option”, which describes how healthcare reform can actually pay for itself through the application of process intelligence and its attendant gains in productivity.
Top Global Fashion Capitals 12th Edition Announced August 30th
The Global Language Monitor’s 11th Survey
Paris nearly doubled Scores of New York and London
Paris Fashion Week, Autumn 2015, New York and Austin, Texas — Paris has stunned New York City toppling it from its one year reign as the Top Global Fashion Capital in the Global Language Monitor’s 11th Annual survey. London remained in the third spot as did L.A.at No. 4. Rounding out the Top Ten were Rome, Milano, Barcelona, Berlin, and Madrid, followed by Tokyo. Currently, there are fifty-six fashion capitals being charted, with a number under watch for 2016.
In 2015 GLM added one city to the analysis, Washington, DC, which made a splash, er belly flopped, to No. 53.
“In a world torn by war, repression, and the brutal subjugation of women and girls, fashion remains a bastion of self-expression,” said Paul JJ Payack, Chief Word Analyst and president of GLM. “And fashion can be a force for good that can be experienced in a positive manner in every culture and tradition.”
It is a verdict made for eleven years and which, regularly, brings its share of surprises. Between the emerging cities and the four major cities - Paris, New York, London and Milan - which compete for first place, the Global Language Monitor’s ranking of fashion capitals is highly anticipated. At the time when New York Fashion Week opens, the results have just fallen.
Moving up from No.12 to No.6 word ordinarily send the City’s Fashion Establishment into an ecstatic state.
Not so, if you are Milano. And especially so if you followed by Roma, at No. 5.
Last March, Milano was the Top Fashion Buzzword for 2015 followed by Suede, Booty, and Kate’s Baby Girl.
However, this is a far cry from the Top Global Fashion Capital ranking, where Milano then ranked No. 12. (sic?).
Much of the internet media buzz, not all of it positive, revolves upon these efforts to revive its ‘brand’.
Recent reports from Milano Moda Donna 2015 were mixed
Milan has been working hard to re-establish itself as the pre-eminent capital of Global Fashion, or at least to being consistently named as one of the Big Four (with Paris, New York, and London). Currently, the No. 4 spot is occupied by LA, which GLM sees as representing the Red Carpet phenomenon.
After an extraordinary two-year reign (2011-2012), London has settled into the No. 3 spot, comfortably behind Paris and New York — for the second year in a row. London also took the third spot in all four major areas of measurement used in determining the annual rankings for the Global Language Monitor.
.
Last year New York topped Paris by less than .05%, the tightest margin ever. This year Paris returned the favor — and then some
— by nearly doubling New York’s score.
In another first, Paris topped all four categories worldwide.
Sydney remains strong as Melbourne falters; for the first time, New Delhi and Mumbai resulted
in a virtual dead heat.
The Global Fashion Capitals for Swimwear were Miami, Barcelona, and Bali.
Barcelona, Berlin, and Madrid remain hot as does what we are now calling the Asian Fashion Cluster: Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Seoul remains on the outside, very outside, of the Cluster at No. 56.
The Top Global Fashion Capital Rankings are listed below, in the format: Ranking, Fashion Capital, and Previous Position.
The Watch List for 2017 includes Abidjan, Accra, Auckland, Beirut, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Lagos.
Top Fashion Capitals by Region
Europe:
Paris, London, Rome, Milano, Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid, Florence, Monaco, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Frankfurt.
India:
Mumbai, New Delhi (statistical dead heat)
Australia:
Sydney, Melbourne
East Asia:
Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Seoul
RSA:
Cape Town, Johannesburg
Middle Europe:
Moscow, Prague, Vienna, St Petersburg, Warsaw and Krakow
Canada:
Toronto, Montreal, high techand Vancouver,
Mideast:
Dubai, Abu Dhabi
Spain:
Barcelona, Madrid
Latin America:
Sao Paulo, Rio de Janerio, Buenos Aires, Caracas, , Santiago and Mexico City
Regional US:
New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Boston, Las Vegas, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Austin and Washington, DC
Methodology: For this analysis, the Global Language Monitor used its proprietary Brand Affiliation Index (BAI),
the same technology used to measure global brand equity for the Olympics, World Cup, the Fortune 500, and others.
This exclusive, GLM longitudinal-study encompasses the prior three years to better assess short-term velocity
and longer-term momentum. The study is a Big Data textual analysis based on billions of webpages, millions of blogs,
the top 375,000 global print, and electronic media, and new social media formats as they appear.
This is the eleventh edition of the survey, which was first made public in 2007.
About the Global Language Monitor
In 2003, The Global Language Monitor (GLM) was founded in Silicon Valley by Paul J.J. Payack on the understanding that new technologies and techniques were necessary for truly understanding the world of Big Data, as it is now known. Previous to this Payack was the founding president at yourDictionary.com, and a senior executive for a number of high-tech companies.
Today, from its home in Austin, Texas GLM provides a number of innovative products and services that utilize its ‘algorithmic services’ to help worldwide customers protect, defend and nurture their branded products and entities. Products include ‘brand audits’ to assess the current status, establish baselines, and competitive benchmarks for current intellectual assets and brands, and to defend products against ambush marketing.
These services are currently provided to the Fortune 500, the Higher Education market, high technology firms, the worldwide print and electronic media, and the global fashion industry, among others.
“Truthiness” and “Wikiality,” two words popularized by political satirist Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, were named the top television buzzwords of the year Sunday. The word-trend group Global Language Monitor, in its annual survey of words from TV that had an effect on the language, defined truthiness as meaning “truth unencumbered by the facts.” Wikiality, derived from the user-compiled Wikipedia information website, was defined as “reality as determined by majority vote,” as when astronomers voted Pluto off their list of planets last week. The survey also cited the words “Katrina,” referring to continuing stories about the hurricane’s destruction; “Katie,” a reference to Katie Couric’s move into the nightly news anchor role at CBS News; and “Dr. McDreamy,” a nod to a character on the breakout hit Grey’s Anatomy.
Elton wants to march to ‘hip-hop beats’
Elton John going hip-hop? “I want to bring my songs and melodies to hip-hop beats — a bit like No Diggity by Blackstreet,” John said in excerpts from an interview on Rolling Stone’s website. “I love those beats, but I have no idea how to get them.” John said he wants to work with Dr. Dre, although he hasn’t approached him. “I want to work with Pharrell, Timbaland, Snoop, Kanye, Eminem and just see what happens. It may be a disaster, it could be fantastic, but you don’t know until you try.” John’s next album, The Captain and the Kid, is due next month
If you have ever wondered what’s in a name, consider: Brooklyn, Moxie Crimefighter, Bluebell Madonna, Suri, Phinneaus, Apple and, debuting just last week, Shiloh.
All these are names that celebrities have bestowed upon their newborns in their quest for the unusual, outlandish or off-the-wall. Consider plain Bill boring and banned.
The experts say it is only a matter of time before the latest trendy new names spread to the general public. For example, ordinary people in the Bronx could start naming their children Brooklyn — a name British soccer star David Beckham and his ex-Spice Girl wife Victoria chose for their son.
Although some name experts think the public might embrace Brooklyn as a first name, they might not jump at the name another former Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell, gave her daughter — Bluebell Madonna.
Shortly before the birth, Halliwell told a British magazine she saw bluebells everywhere and took that as a sign. As for the name Madonna, she explained it this way: “No one else has the name except the Virgin and the singer, who I adore.”
It might take a few years to see if the name Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave their new daughter — Shiloh — when she was born on Saturday catches on with the general public.
A girl called MessiahPaul JJ Payack, the head of Global Language Monitor, which monitors word and name usage, says Shiloh is unusual in several ways: it is the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War, a male name and means Messiah.
“This is, indeed, a very unusual trend, where the baby’s name is seen as just another Hollywood adornment,” Payack said.
“Having children has become a fad, and as will any fad emanating from Hollywood, self-augmentation, adornment and going to the extreme are going to be present,” he said.
Pam Satran, co-author of the bestselling baby naming book “Beyond Jason & Jennifer,” says that for years bland names were the order of the day, but not any more. In fact, the next edition of her book will be titled, “Beyond Jason & Jennifer, Madison & Montana” to recognize the first name revolution.
“Twenty years ago celebrity baby names were pretty simple. It was Kate, Kate, Max, Max. Now celebrities are trying to outdo celebrities,” she said.
In the 1950s, if a celebrity had an unusual name he or she would change it something simple and socially acceptable like Ken or Debbie.
As the decades passed, new fads included using boys’ names for girls, like Drew, Cameron and Stockard. Then came the place names: Madison, Brooklyn, Paris and now, Shiloh.
“These days if you have an ordinary name in Hollywood you change it to a weird one. The more distinctive your name is the better. There’s a whole issue of image and branding out there,” Satran said.
She added, “Celebrities are very much aware of the power of their image.”
And with that in mind, here are some example of what celebrities have recently called their children: Julia Roberts, Hazel and Phinneaus; Gwyneth Paltrow, Moses and Apple; Jason Lee, Pilot Inspektor; Joely Fisher, True Harlow; and Nicolas Cage: Kal-el.
According to the Social Security Administration the 10 most popular male names of the 2000s so far are Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Andrew, Christopher, Joseph, Daniel, Nicholas and Ethan.
For girls they are Emily, Madison, Hannah, Emma, Ashley, Abigail, Alexis, Olivia, Samantha and Sarah.
GLM’s Editor’s Note: Thanks o the Washington Post for creating this bit of linguistic sophistry. After nearly a decade, we are pleased/disappointed to announce that NOT One of these entries has wriggled itself into the English language. More the pity.
— PJJP
Report From Week 665
In which we took suggestions for the 1 millionth word in the English language, which, according to the algorithms set forth by one Paul JJ Payack, is 11,032 words away as of June 30 (then again, it also was 11,032 words away on March 21). Just to be imperious, the Empress decreed that the word had to end in -ion. Some otherwise good entries turned up too often on Google, such as “comcastration,” getting your cable cut off.
4 Martyration: A request for only 36 virgins in paradise. (Chris Doyle, Forsyth, Mo.)
3 Espanation: Stupidly adding a vowel at the end of an English word to try to talk to a Spanish-speaker; e.g., “Which aisle-o has the cerealo?” (Alan Hochbaum, Atlanta)
2 The winner of the “Brechlinker,” the Inker with the Barbie head:
Errudition: Comical misuse of big words. “Madam, your dress looks positively superfluous on you tonight,” he said with amazing errudition. (Tom Witte, Montgomery Village)
And the Winner of the Inker
Percycution: Giving your child a name he will hate for the rest of his life. (Marty McCullen, Gettysburg, Pa.)
Fermentions
(Bob Staake for The Washington Post)
Achoodication: Trying to determine whether you have to say “bless you” after someone’s second sneeze. (Brendan Beary, Great Mills)
Applicushion: Your fall-back college. (Phil Frankenfeld, Washington)
Banglion: The primitive neural structure constituting 90 percent of the male brain. (Elwood Fitzner, Valley City, N.D.)
Awwdition: A tryout for the Cutest Babies and Puppies Pageant. (Dave Prevar, Annapolis)
Bossculation: Kissing up to management. (Chris Doyle)
Boysion: A house that looks bigger and more luxurious than it really is. “The railroad tracks separated the mansions from the boysions.” (Elizabeth Moly?, Falls Church)
Bratisfaction: Stomping your feet until you get your way, and you do. (Steve McClemons, Arlington)
Cadhesion: The emotional attachment that keeps some women from breaking up with men who treat them badly. (Brad Alexander, Wanneroo, Australia)
Codgertation: A man’s realization that with a certain saying, thought or action, he has turned into his father. (Brendan Beary)
Coitillion: A formal dance at which a debutante really makes her debut. (Steve Fahey, Kensington; Joseph Romm, Washington)
Dabomination: Something that is hateful in the Lord’s eyes, but otherwise is way awesome. (Brendan Beary)
Delugion: The mistaken impression that the levees would hold. (Steve Fahey)
Doughnation: The extra item in a baker’s dozen. (Tom Witte)
Dreckspansion: Now on washingtonpost.com, even more Style Invitational entries! (Brendan J. O’Byrne, Regina, Saskatchewan)
Effemination: France. (Kevin Dopart, Washington)
Emensapation: To free yourself from that circle of pedants comparing their SAT scores from 30 years ago. (Jeff Brechlin, Eagan, Minn.)
Enamortization: To fall rashly in love with an object or person, and end up paying for it for the next 20 years. (Brendan Beary)
Esion: The sound of music played backward. “Oh, the White Album played backward doesn’t say ‘daed si luaP.’ It’s just esion.” (Steve Langer, Chevy Chase)
Flabrication: The weight on your driver’s license. (Bruce Carlson, Alexandria)
Flashion: The latest look in trench coats. (Kyle Hendrickson, Frederick)
Homo-erection: Anything built by the species Homo erectus, of course . What else would it be? (Russell Beland, Springfield)
Immigaytion: The GOP’s two-pronged fear strategy: “It’s two, two, two horrors in one!” (Peter Metrinko, Chantilly)
Indigentrification: That new trailer park and check-cashing outlet on Foxhall Road. (Chris Doyle)
Infectuation: An obsessive attraction to someone who’s going to do you very wrong. (Barbara Turner, Takoma Park)
Iraqtion: A state of political arousal. Initially pleasurable, but requires professional attention if the condition lasts more than four years. (Mark Eckenwiler, Washington)
Irkstation: The cubicle right next to yours, with the co-worker who flosses at his desk. (Tom Witte)
Levistation: A maneuver for putting on tight jeans, in which a woman lies on her back, lifts her hips and then kicks both legs straight up. (Brad Alexander)
Liketation: Giving the milk of human kindness. (Andrew Hoenig, Rockville)
Maltiplication: The way that “a beer with the guys” becomes two, then four, then eight … (Brendan Beary)
Menschion: The rare acknowledgment of the rare man who doesn’t seek publicity. (Richard Pearlstein, Falls Church)
Mession: What’s really been accomplished in Iraq. (Tom Witte)
Miniminion: The bottom banana in an organization; a sycophant’s yes-man. (Stephen Dudzik, Olney)
Oyveycation: A trip back to Brooklyn to visit Aunt Tillie. (Ned Bent, Oak Hill)
Prevulsion: When you know you’re just gonna hate it so much, you can taste it. (Bruce Carlson)
Preztidigitation: An ability to fool an audience while having absolutely no sleight of tongue. (Phyllis Reinhard, East Fallowfield, Pa.)
Regattacotillion: A vocabulary word designed solely to discriminate against minorities on standardized tests. (David Kleinbard, Jersey City)
Regeorgitation: When the vending machine spits back your dollar bill. (Jay Shuck, Minneapolis)
Samesextillion: The number of gay marriages we’ll have without a constitutional amendment to ban them. — P. Robertson (Chris Doyle)
Sintuition: 1. A knack for recognizing women willing to have sex with you; 2. The cost of a “date” with one of these women. (Dave Kelsey, Fairfax)
Snubdivision: a gated community created to keep out people like YOU. (Stephen Dudzik)
Unsurrection: Oh, it’s just a few desperate dead-enders setting roadside bombs. — D. Rumsfeld, Washington (Dot Yufer, Newton, W.Va.)
Vachion: The current anti-style rule that your dimensions shouldn’t restrict your clothing choice, e.g., size XXXL hot pink spandex leggings. (Chris Parkin, Silver Spring)
Weareligion: What sleeves are for. — B. Frist, Nashville (Kevin Dopart)
Anti-Invitational: Noinkish: Something only slightly amusing. (Russell Beland, Springfield)
And another Anti-Invitational: Annoi: To irritate the Empress by sending an Anti-Invitational entry. (Stephen Dudzik)
The Seventh Annual Analysis by the Global Language Monitor
NEWYORK, September 12, 2014 – “All things New York” has been named the Top Fashion Buzzword for 201 4, in the Global Language Monitor’s seventh annual ranking. Attitude, Reds, Underbut(t) and Visible Panty Lines (VPL) follow. Boyfriend Jeans, Side Boobs, The Kardashian Clan, Robe-style Coats, and Pastels follow.
“All Things New York”, capturing the essence of the New York fashion sense, dominates the 2014 Top Fashion Buzzword list,” said Rebecca Roman, Manhattan-based Fashion Director for GLM. “It is difficult to think of any global fashion trend that does not have a strong presence, if not its origin, in the New York City.
“All things New York” — In 2014 New York stands astride the world of fashion.
Attitude — It’s not just what you wear but how you wear it.
Reds — Big, bold, and bright.
Underbut(t) — Yes, we said ‘underbut(t).
VPL (Visible Panty Lines) — For decades, the idea was to eliminate VPL; VPLs are now in style.
Boyfriend Jeans — Popular but not always fashionable.
Side Boobs — Same as above.
The Kardashian Clan — Same as above.
Robe-style Coats — More bedroom-style in the streets.
Pastels — Appropriate now for all seasons.
Funky Eye Makeup — You know it when you see it.
Earthy Tones — Mixing various earth tones together.
Sneakers — Still popular in all shapes and sizes.
Transparents — Updated Peek-a-boo look.
Sweaters — Particularly Wool, particularly big.
Methodology: GLM’s various word analyses are longitudinal in nature covering a number of years that varies with the particular analysis. The rankings are based upon actual word usage throughout the English-speaking world, which now numbers more than 1.83 billion people. GLM analyses billions of web pages, millions of blogs, 300,000 print and electronic news organizations, and new social media sites as they emerge. To qualify for GLM’s lists, the words, names, and phrases must be found globally, have a minimum of 25,000 citations. and the requisite ‘depth’ and ‘breadth’ of usage. Depth is here defined as appearing in various forms of media; breadth that they must appear world-over, not limited to a particular profession or social group or geography.
Top Fashion Buzzwords of previous years include:
London (2013)
the Princess Effect (2012)
Kate Middleton (2011)
Lady Gaga (2010), and
Chiconomics (2009)
Each year, the Global Language Monitor ranks the Top Global Fashion Capitals. In 2013 New York topped Paris and London followed by Los Angeles (!?), Barcelona, Rome, Berlin, Sydney, Antwerp, and Shanghai.
About the Global Language Monitor
In 2003, The Global Language Monitor (GLM) was founded in Silicon Valley by Paul J.J. Payack on the understanding that new technologies and techniques were necessary for truly understanding the world of Big Data, as it is now known.
Today, from its home in Austin, Texas Global Language Monitor analyzes and catalogs the latest trends in word usage and word choices and their impact on the various aspects of culture, with a particular emphasis upon Global English.
For more information, call 512.801.6823, email info@LanguageMonitor.com, or visit www.LanguageMonitor.com.
The Difference between New York and Paris was 0.05% And No. 4? Los Angeles! Yes, LA. February Fashion Weeks, 2014 New York and Austin, Texas — New York has reclaimed the title of the Top Global Fashion Capital from London, which had held the tile for 2011 and 2012. Paris, which also won the title of the Top Global Fashion Capital for Haute Couture, finished in the No. 2 spot overall. New York and Paris were separated by 0.05%, the closest in the 10-year history of the Global Language Monitor’s survey. In another development, Los Angeles moved into the esteemed Big Four status, moving up five spots from 2012.. The rest of the Top Ten included: Barcelona, Rome, Berlin, Sydney, Antwerp, and Shanghai. Berlin solidified its position, while Antwerp completed it steady climb, Sydney had a triumphal return, and Shanghai returns to what many consider its rightful place in the Top Ten. Asia was well represented with Tokyo (11), Singapore (19), and Hong Kong (20) in the Top Twenty. “New York City has, indeed, earned its Top Global Fashion Capital ranking through its disciplined, methodical yet creative approach to its fashion industry,” said Bekka Payack, New York-based Fashion Director for The Global Language Monitor.
Midtown Manhattan, the center of it all
The rest of the Top Ten included: Barcelona, Rome, Berlin, Sydney, Antwerp, and Shanghai. Berlin solidified its position, while Antwerp completed it steady climb, Sydney had a triumphal return, and Shanghai returns to what many consider its rightful place in the Top Ten. Asia was well represented with Tokyo (11), Singapore (19), and Hong Kong (20) in the Top Twenty. “New York City has, indeed, earned its Top Global Fashion Capital ranking through its disciplined, methodical yet creative approach to its fashion industry,” said Bekka Payack, New York-based Fashion Director for The Global Language Monitor.
“Paris, with the Top Haute Couture ranking, of course, has a centuries-long heritage, having invented the very concept, also scored highly in the pret-a-porter category. This year’s rankings also demonstrate the creative energy that is emerging worldwide in terms of fashion as a jobs, income and wealth generator, not to mention the prestige associated with exporting your fashion sense to the world.
After a great 2-year run atop the rankings, London has settled comfortably into the No. 2 spot
. The Top Global Fashion Capital Rankings are listed below, in the format: Position, City, Change from 2012, and comment.
New York (+1) — The Big Apple is back on top of the fashion world by slipping past Paris by .5%.
Paris (+2) — The Top Global Fashion Capital for Haute Couture is surprisingly strong in pret-a-porter, also.
London (-2) — London has enjoyed a fabulous two-year run and is now secure in its place in the top echelon for global fashion.
Los Angeles (+5) — Zut alors! Tinsel Town in the Top Four? The result of the melding of the Red Carpet, the Industry (film, of course), and West Coast cool.
Barcelona (-2) — Espana, again, places two Fashion Capitals in the Top Fifteen. Barcelona also wins the Top Fashion Capital for Swimwear.
Rome (0) — Rome may have Seven Hills but Italy now has Three Fashion Capitals (and Milan is No. 2).
Berlin (+3) — Berlin continues its steady rise moving deeper into the the elite ranks.
Sydney (+7) — Sydney towers over OZ distancing (and distinguishing) itself, once again, from Melbourne.
Antwerp (+2) — Ah Antwerp, reverberations of the avant garde Antwerp Six continues into the 21st century.
Shanghai (+12) — As China further emerges onto the world stage, Shanghai leads the fashion charge.
Tokyo (+9) — Tokyo made a leap in 2013 that many consider long overdue.
Milano (-4) — Milan was the Top Global Fashion Capital back in 2009 and remains a strong contender for the top spot year-after-year.
Florence (+3) — Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli — A proud heritage to a thriving fashion industry in 2013.
Madrid (-9) — Still strong in 2013, further cementing its place among the elite Fashion Capitals.
Sao Paulo (-8) — Again, the Queen of Latin American Fashion Capitals.
St. Petersburg (+35) — Russian comes into 2014 with two Fashion Capitals in the Top Twenty, with Petrograd surprising Moscow. Read more
The Global Language Monitor’s 10th Annual Survey
The Difference between New York and Paris was 0.05% And No. 4? Los Angeles! Yes, LA. February Fashion Weeks, 2014 New York and Austin, Texas — New York has reclaimed the title of the Top Global Fashion Capital from London, which had held the tile for 2011 and 2012. Paris, which also won the title of the Top Global Fashion Capital for Haute Couture, finished in the No. 2 spot overall. New York and Paris were separated by 0.05%, the closest in the 10-year history of the Global Language Monitor’s survey. In another development, Los Angeles moved into the esteemed Big Four status, moving up five spots from 2012.
Coming Later in 2014: The Global Fashion Capital Institute
. The rest of the Top Ten included: Barcelona, Rome, Berlin, Sydney, Antwerp, and Shanghai. Berlin solidified its position, while Antwerp completed its steady climb, Sydney had a triumphal return, and Shanghai returns to what many consider its rightful place in the Top Ten. Asia was well represented with Tokyo (11), Singapore (19), and Hong Kong (20) in the Top Twenty. “New York City has, indeed, earned its Top Global Fashion Capital ranking through its disciplined, methodical yet creative approach to its fashion industry.” said Bekka Payack, New York-based Fashion Director for The Global Language Monitor.
“Paris, with the Top Haute Couture ranking, of course has a centuries-l, ng heritage, having invented the very concept, also scored highly in the pret-a-porter category. This year’s rankings also demonstrate the creative energy that is emerging worldwide in terms of fashion as a jobs, income and wealth generator, not to mention the prestige associated with exporting your fashion sense to the world.”
. The Top Global Fashion Capital Rankings are listed below, in the format: Position, City, Change from 2012, and comment.
New York (+1) — The Big Apple is back on top of the fashion world by slipping past Paris by .5%.
Paris (+2) — The Top Global Fashion Capital for Haute Couture is surprisingly strong in pret-a-porter, also.
London (-2) — London has enjoyed a fabulous two-year run and is now secure in its place in the top echelon for global fashion.
Los Angeles (+5) — Zut alors! Tinsel Town in the Top Four? The result of the melding of the Red Carpet, the Industry (film, of course), and West Coast cool.
Barcelona (-2) — Espana, again, places two Fashion Capitals in the Top Fifteen. Barcelona also wins the Top Fashion Capital for Swimwear.
Rome (0) — Rome may have Seven Hills but Italy now has Three Fashion Capitals (and Milan is No. 2).
Berlin (+3) — Berlin continues its steady rise moving deeper into the the elite ranks.
Sydney (+7) — Sydney towers over OZ distancing (and distinguishing) itself, once again, from Melbourne.
Antwerp (+2) — Ah Antwerp, reverberations of the avant garde Antwerp Six continues into the 21st century.
Shanghai (+12) — As China further emerges onto the world stage, Shanghai leads the fashion charge.
Tokyo (+9) — Tokyo made a leap in 2013 that many consider long overdue.
Milano (-4) — Milan was the Top Global Fashion Capital back in 2009 and remains a strong contender for the top spot year-after-year.
Florence (+3) — Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli — A proud heritage to a thriving fashion industry in 2013.
Madrid (-9) — Still strong in 2013, further cementing its place among the elite Fashion Capitals.
Sao Paulo (-8) — Again, the Queen of Latin American Fashion Capitals.
St. Petersburg (+35) — Russian comes into 2014 with two Fashion Capitals in the Top Twenty, with Petrograd surprising Moscow. Read more
The Sixth Annual Analysis by the Global Language Monitor
New York, February 21, 2013 – The city of London has been named the Top Fashion Buzzword for 2013, in the Global Language Monitor’s sixth annual ranking. London breaks the two year chart topping by the Duchess of Cambridge. London bested ‘high slits’ the look popularized by Angelina Jolie’s dramatic stance at the 2012 Oscars, followed by Textures, Nail Art, Top Knots. Leather, Wedge Sneakers, Peek-a-boo, Statement Sunglasses, and Au Natural rounded out the top ten. “It may come as a surprise to some that the former Kate Middleton does not top the Top Fashion Buzzwords list this year. After all Kate lit the headlines for everything she wore (and even more so when forgetting to don her frocks). However, she could not overcome the fashion behemoth she helped create: London,” said Bekka Payack, Manhattan-based Fashion Director for GLM. “This season will serve to further liberate women the world over to dress fashionably, in any way these choose.”
London — With the the Global Fashion Crown two years running, the Olympics, Kate Middleton, Stella McCartney, Kate Moss and a cast of thousands (even the flamboyant Boris Johnson, nothing has proven more worthy than London Town.
High Slits — Angelina Jolie’s dramatic stance at the 2012 Academy Award ceremony was the largest meme ever tracked. thereafter high slits abound.
Textures — For the fashion conscious it’s the feel and not just the look.
Nail Art — Observing today’s nail art is akin to taking a stroll through MoMA, with the works in miniature.
Top knots and fun buns — Hair buns have evolved from granny’s convenience to a post-Modern fashion statement.
Leather — Everything and everywhere, including socks, pants, jackets, shirts, and various ‘unmentionables’.
Wedge sneakers — Chuck your oh-so-retro Chuck Taylors, wedge sneakers are now the thing.
Peek-a-boo — Apparently, the catwalks have gotten the CBS Emmy memo — and peek-a-boo fashion abounds.
Statement Sunglasses — All of a sudden, Google’s ‘enhanced reality ‘ sunglasses are demur by catwalk standards.
Au Natural — In the buff now has a much sought after ‘royal warrant’ directly from the Duchess of Cambridge.
First Knuckle Rings — Every few hundred years first knuckle rings return to the fashion forefront.
Baby Bumps — First saw life with the ‘More Demi Moore’ Vanity Fair Cover in ’91. Now a fashion statement.
Blocking — Fabric and Texture blocking; not just color blocking this time around
Prints — Start with postage stamps and follow through to zig-zags, paisleys, and even stripes.
Children as Fashion Accessories — Nothing new here but becoming ever more prominent in Tinsel Town.
Each autumn, the Global Language Monitor ranks the Top Global Fashion Capitals. In 2012, London maintained its dominance over New York City as the Top Global Fashion Capital. Following London and New York were Barcelona, Paris, and Madrid. Rome, Sao Paulo, Milano, Los Angeles, and Berlin rounded out the top ten.
