The Global Language Monitor

Welcome to the World of Global English

admin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:46:01 +0000

The Newspaper of Global English, Published on Tuesdays

The English Language WordClock: 1,000,279

English passed the 1,000,000 threshold on June 10, 2009 at 10:22 am GMT

Breaking News:

Michael Jackson Now No. 2 Story of the 21st century

Mainstream Global Media			Internet, Blogs & Social Media
Rank	Story	Year	Rank	Story	Year
1	Obama	2008	1	Obama	2008
2	Hurricane Katrina	2005	2	Michael Jackson	2009
3	Financial Tsunami	2008	3	Iraq War	2003
4	Iraq War	2003	4	Beijing Olympics	2008
5	9/11 Terrorist Attacks	2001	5	Financial Tsunami	2008
6	Beijing Olympics	2008	6	Hurricane Katrina	2005
7	Pope John Paul II	2005	7	Pope John Paul II	2005
8	S. Asian Tsunami	2005	8	9/11 Terrorist Attacks	2001
9	Michael Jackson	2009	9	S. Asian Tsunami	2005

Linguists Fret as the World Celebrates Global English

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 1,000,000^th 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 21^st 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, 21^st c. twittering is simply a new entry, a new definition, under the ancient headword, twitter”.

IT Pro Portal Compares 12-month use of twitter vs Web 2.0

On June 10, the Global Language Monitor announced that Web 2.0 has bested Jai Ho, N00b and Slumdog as the 1,000,000^th 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 1,000,000^th 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.

‘Millionth English word’ declared

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.

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.

Pick the Definition, May 28, 2009

Test your vocabulary skills on words about to officially enter the English language

.

The English Conquest (May 17, 2009)

Chinglish Enriches English Vocabulary with Chinese Features (May 13)

News Magazine

The words in the mental cupboard

April 28, 2009

Watch: When Does a Word Become a Word?

BBC World Service, April 22, 2009

Special Report, April 23, 2009

Neologisms

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. Read on and you won’t be an ugsome noob.

The Economist Predictions for 2009 Preview:

.

English Marks a Million

Listen to the segment on Morning Edition

Save the Date: English nears a milestone (Christian Science Monitor)

News Forcaster: When will English pass 1 million words?

Current forecast: after 3/30/08 and before 4/30/08 (45% chance)

A Contrary View of the Million Word March

ENGLISH AND ITS ODDITIES ; The word factory keeps producing

Buy The WordMan’s Guide to Global English!

English is reaching its 1,000,000th word in 2009!

With over 1.35 billion speakers, English gets new words every day from every corner of the globe — China (airline pulp and no noising), India (fundoo and cutties) and from every human endeavor like politics (Obamamania), entertainment (truthiness, brokeback and Jai Ho!), finance (zombie banks), fashion (chiconomics) and the Internet (Blogosphere).

And please do not attempt to master the global economy without it. Since English is now the global language of technology, business, science, entertainment and the Internet.

The Million Word March in Smithsonian Magazine

.

THE WORLD IN WORDS: Top Words of 2008

.

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:31:38 +0000

Top US Colleges and Universities Ranked by Internet MediaBuzz

Universities: Harvard narrowly tops Columbia; Chicago, Michigan and Stanford follow; Wisconsin, Cornell, Princeton, Yale, and Cal in Top Ten

Colleges: Colorado tops Williams; Amherst, Wellesley and Oberlin follow; Middlebury, Richmond, Union, Vassar, and Bard in Top Ten

Austin, Texas, USA. April 9, 2009. In an exclusive TrendTopper MediaBuzz™ analysis of the nation’s colleges and universities, the Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com) has ranked the nation’s Top 100 colleges and universities according their appearance in the global print and electronic media, as well as on the Internet and throughout the Blogosphere. Social Media were also included. The Top 100 Colleges and Universities were also ranked by Media Momentum, defined as largest change in Media Buzz from the end of 2008.

Read the story in the Harvard Crimson

In the University category, Harvard narrowly topped Columbia by a margin of 1.03%; Chicago moved into the No. 3 spot with Michigan and Stanford following. Wisconsin moved up to No. 6, while Cornell moved up three spots to No. 7, with Princeton, Yale, and the University of California, Berkeley rounding out the Top Ten. Taken as a whole, the University of California system would have outdistanced Harvard for the Top Spot by a wide margin.

Read the story from the University of Wisconsin

In the Liberal Arts College category, Colorado College and Williams repeated as No. 1 and 2 with Amherst, Wellesley and Oberlin all moving up. Middlebury, Richmond, Union (moving up five spots), Vassar, and Bard (moving up six spots) completed the Top Ten.

In the Media Momentum category for universities: CalTech, Emory and Boston College topped the list with George Tech, Tufts, USC, Rice, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and Brandeis rounding out the Top Ten.

In the Media Momentum category for colleges: Bard College debuted at No. 1 followed by Colorado, Harvey Mudd, Wesleyan, St Olaf College, Grinnell, Holy Cross, Gettysburg, Claremont McKenna College, and St Lawrence.

Go to http://www.languagemonitor.com/college-rankings for the complete Top 100 rankings.

“In a year of financial, intellectual, and political ferment one constant has been the primacy of college brands,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst at GLM. “However, they are being scrutinized as seldom before with the differentiators between and among differing schools coming to the forefront.”

GLM used its proprietary Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI) software for the TrendTopper MediaBuzz Analysis. GLM used the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classifications to distinguish between Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges. The schools were ranked in early April, with the last day of 2008 as the base, with two interim snapshots.

‘Outrage’ in global media higher than anytime this century

Previous benchmark was in aftermath of 9/11 attacks

Austin, TX March 24, 2009 – The Global Language Monitor has found that the word ‘outrage’ has been used more in the global media this week than anytime this century. The previous benchmark was in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The analysis of the global printed and electronic media was concluded earlier today.

“There is a feeling that the outrage is unprecedented, and the numbers certainly demonstrate the fact. The amount of anger and outrage as reflected in the media is, indeed, unprecedented,” said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor.

From The Times, London, March 25, 2009

Martin Waller: City Diary

There is an awful lot of outrage out there – official. There is an outfit in Austin, Texas, the Global Language Monitor, which counts the number of times words are used in the media (no, I am not quite sure why, either, but it’s probably quite easy with a decent search engine).

They have discovered that the word “outrage” has been used more over the past week than any time this century. The last time the word was in widespread use was after 9/11, but usage now surpasses even then. Of course, it’s all down to bankers’ bonuses.

GLM examined word usage in the seven days following significant events including, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the start of the Iraq War in 2003, and the week after the Hurricane Katrina disaster in September 2005. The analysis included global print and electronic media.

In particular, the word has been quoted in association with the uproar over the AIG bonuses, as having been used by President Obama, his senior staff, members of congress, commentators, and ordinary citizens at large. The GLM analysis included global print and electronic media since the turn of the 21^st century.

The ranking of ‘outrage’ usage in the media:

1. AIX Bonuses, 2009

2. the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001

3. Hurricane Katrina, 2005,

4. Iraq War, 2005

Earlier GLM had reported that words of despair and fear have been drowning out those of ‘Hope’ in the Global Media since Obama’s election as president of the United States on November 4, 2008, with examples abound, including catastrophe, depression, as in full-blown or impending disaster, collapse, and crisis, among many others.

‘Jai Ho!’ and ‘Slumdog’ top HollyWORDs of 2008

followed by ‘Hmong,’ ‘Nuke the Fridge’ and ‘Twinkie defense’

6th Annual Survey by the Global Language Monitor

Austin, TX. February 26, 2009. ‘Jai Ho!’ and ‘Slumdog’ from Slumdog Millionaire top the 2008 list of words from Hollywood that most influenced the English Language in 2008. Closely following were ‘Hmong’ from Gran Torino, ‘Nuke the Fridge’ from Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull and ‘Twinkie defense’ (which followed the events depicted in Milk). It was the first time that two words from the same movie were ranked in the Top Ten. Rounding out the Top Ten were: ‘Djembe’ (The Visitor), “There are no accidents” (Kung Fu Panda), ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you … stranger,” (The Dark Knight), Posthumous (The Wrestler), and Katrina from Benjamin Button.

“2008 was a remarkable year for words in films, with a Hindi phrase, the name of a Laotian tribe, a West African drum, and a modified quotation from Frederick Nietzsche all making the list,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor.

The Top Hollywords of the 2008 with commentary follow.

Jai Ho! (Slumdog Millionaire) – Literally ‘Let there be Victory’ in Hindi.
Slumdog (Slumdog Millionaire) – Definitely a politically incorrect term for young slum-dwellers in Bombay (Mumbai).
Nuke the Fridge (Indiana Jones and the ) – Indiana Jones surviving a nuclear blast in a lead-lined fridge is viewed as proof that the franchise has run its course (similar to Fonzi’s Jump the Shark episode on Happy Days).
Hmong (Gran Torino) – The name of the mountain-dwelling peoples of Laos who were US Allies in the Indochinese Wars of the 1960-70s. Pronounced with a silent ‘h’: mong.
Twinkie Defense (Milk) – The apocryphal outcome of the trial 1979 trial of Dan White, the former San Francisco Supervisor who killed both Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. The term was never actually used in the trial but was picked up in the media as a stand-in for ‘diminished capacity’.
Djembe (The Visitor) – West African percussion instrument that Tarek teaches Walter.
There are no accidents (Kung Fu Panda) – Oogway’s solemn pronouncement to Master Shifu
What doesn’t kill you makes you … stranger (The Dark Knight) – The Joker’s twist on the famous Nietzsche epigram.
Posthumous (The Wrestler) – Yes, that really was Mickey Rourke as a Best Actor nominee, well after he had been pronounced dead many a time.
Katrina (Benjamin Button) – The ominous and pervasive threat of Katrina framing the movie demonstrates the depth to which the hurricane has penetrated the American subconscious.

Previous Top HollyWord Winners:

2007 “Call it, Friendo,” from “No Country for Old Men”

2006 “High Five!!! Its sexy time!’ from “Borat!”

2005 ‘Brokeback’ from “Brokeback Mountain”

2004 “Pinot” from “Sideways”

2003 ‘’Wardrobe malfunction” from Super Bowl XXXVIII

The Global Language Monitor uses a proprietary algorithm, the Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI) to track the frequency of words and phrases in the global print and electronic media, on the Internet, throughout the Blogosphere, as well as accessing proprietary databases. The PQI is a weighted Index, factoring in: long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum, and velocity.

Opinion: Name current crisis Global Economic Restructuring

• To more precisely describe current economic condition

• To remove emotional freight from the debate

Austin, TX February 17, 2009 – Earlier this month we noted that words of despair and fear of the Global Economic Meltdown have been drowning out those of ‘Hope’ in the Global Media since Obama’s Election as President of the United States on November 4, 2008. The period of the analysis covered 90 days, ending February 3, 2009.

Since that time, the language describing the current financial situation from the administration, the congress and the pundits as reflected in the Global Media has become even more severe. Even a cursory review of the contemporary media bears this out. The favored descriptions include: [Read more.]

‘Despair’ & ‘fear’ drowning out ‘Hope’ in Global Media

Comparison of 90-days since election to 9/11 and Start of Iraq War

Austin, TX February 10, 2009 – The Global Language Monitor has found that words of despair and fear relating to the global economic meltdown are drowning out those of hope in the global media in the ninety days since the US presidential election on November 4, 2008.

With thousands of global headlines centering on the deteriorating global economy followed by news of the human toll of people driven to despair and committing acts of desperation, GLM undertook an analysis of the language used in the global print and electronic media since the US presidential election. GLM then compared their frequency of use to the ninety days following the 9/11 Terrorists attacks on New York and Washington in 2001 and the 90-day period following the outbreak of the Iraq War in 2003. The representative fear-related words chosen: Fear, Despair, Abandoned, Desperate/Desperation.

The analysis found that these words were used in the last ninety days with 18-23% more frequency since the historic Obama election than when compared to their use in the ninety days following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 of 2001 and 90-days following the beginning of the Iraq War in March 2003. The one exception was that of the word fear, itself, though its use in relation to the economic meltdown was still some 85% of its use in the case of 9/11 and the Iraq War.

“The results are striking, especially, in contrast to the immense outpouring of global goodwill in response to the inauguration of Barack Omama, since the survey included the ten days immediately following Obama’s swearing in,” ” said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor.

The specific breakdown of the keywords (and related variations) follows:

1. Abandoned — Abandoned appeared some 23% more frequently

2. Despair — Despair appeared some 18% more frequently

3. Desperation – Desperation appeared some 18% more frequently

4. Fear – Fear appeared some 85% of the frequency

Media and Analysts: Call for Graphics

.

Chiconomics, Michele Obama, Sheer, Metallics, and Gladiator

Top FashionSpeak of Upcoming Fall/Winter 2009/10 Season

Austin, TX February 5, 2009 – Chiconomics, Michele Obama, Sheer, Metallics, and Gladiator were named the Top Fashion Buzzwords of the of Upcoming Fall/Winter 2009/10 Season by the Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com). New York Fashion Week begins February 12th.

The words were chosen from those gathered from the worldwide fashion media and nominated by key fashionistas. This exclusive ranking is based upon GLM’s Predictive Quantities Index, a proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in print and electronic media, on the Internet and throughout the blogosphere. The words and phrases are tracked in relation to their frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets.

Forbes: Recessionistas in, fashionistas out in bad economy

“The fashion world is affected by the global economic meltdown like everyone else this year and are reflected in this season’s buzzwords,” said Millie L. Payack, director and fashion correspondent of the Global Language Monitor.” Another significant influence is that of Michele Obama as the first Lady of the United States, who already is subject of vast Internet and Blogosphere buzz.” [Read More.]

Obama inauguration got unprecedented coverage

Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:43pm EST

LOS ANGELES, Jan 21 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama’s inauguration generated an unprecedented 35,000 stories in the world’s major newspapers, television and radio broadcasts over the past day — about 35 times more than the last presidential swearing-in — a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

The Texas-based Global Language Monitor said there had also been 6 million new Obama-related mentions on the Internet since Dec. 31.

By comparison, the last U.S. presidential inauguration, of George W. Bush in January 2005, resulted in about 1,000 stories in major media worldwide, Paul JJ Payack, president of Global Language Monitor said.

“The Obama numbers are unprecedented and speak volumes to the global fascination with the new American president, his wife and young family,” Payack told Reuters. “Obama is the biggest story of the century so far.”

U.S. television audience ratings for Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony, which was shown live on major broadcast networks and cable news channels, are expected to show record numbers tuning in when they are released later on Wednesday.

Payack said that according to his group’s monitoring, the Obama campaign and election story had generated 717,000 citations in print, television and radio across the world in 2008 and 254 million mentions on the Internet and in Web blogs.

That surpassed media interest generated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the global financial meltdown in 2008, the Iraq War in 2003 and the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Payack said.

The tallies were calculated using the group’s proprietary algorithm which tracks the frequency of words and phrases in the global print and electronic media, the Internet and major databases.

Misunderestimate Tops List of All-time

.

‘Bushisms’

Compendium of the President’s ‘Greatest Hits’

Austin, TX January 9, 2009 – The Top All-Time Bushisms were released earlier today by the Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com). Topping the List were:

Misunderestimate,
Mission Accomplished,
Brownie, you’ve done a heck of a job!
I’m the decider, and
I use the Google.

“The era of Bushisms is now coming to an end, and word watchers worldwide will have a hard time substituting Barack Obama’s precise intonations and eloquence for W’s unique linguistic constructions,” said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor. “The biggest linguistic faux pas of the Obama era thus far involves the use of the reflexive pronoun myself. This is a refreshing shift from the Bush years.”

The rankings were nominated by language observers the world over and then ranked with the help of the Global Language Monitor’s PQI (Predictive-quantities Indicator). The PQI is a proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the print and electronic media, on the Internet and throughout the blogosphere.

The Top All-time Bushisms with commentary, follow. [Read More.]

Obama election tops all news stories since Year 2000

More than double all the other major news events COMBINED

Austin, TX December 29, 2008 (MetaNewswire) – The election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States tops all major news stories since the year 2000 according to a analysis released by the Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com). In fact citations of Barack Obama in the global print and electronic media, on the Internet, and throughout the blogosphere more than double the other main stories of the last decade combined. These include in descending order: the Iraq War, the Beijing Olympics, the Financial Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the death of Pope John Paul II, the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks and the Asian Tsunami. [Read More.}

Word Christmas Stronger than Ever in Global Media

Contrary to assumption that “Holiday season” pushing Christmas aside

Austin, TX December 23, 2008 (Update) – The Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com) has found that contrary to the assumption that the word Christmas is being pushed aside by more secular or politically neutral terms, ‘Christmas’ is used over 600% more than ‘Holiday Season’ in the global media. GLM compared the use of Christmas along with that of ‘Holiday Season,’ ‘Xmas,’ Hanukah’ in a variety of spellings, and ‘Kwanzaa’. [Read More.]

Obama as a Top Word of the Year

Austin, TX December 5 2008 – In an election cycle known for its many twists and turns, another unexpected result pops up in calculating the Top Words of 2008. According to the analysis performed by the Global Language Monitor’s (www.Languagemonitor.com), the word ‘change’ was the Top Word of 2008, followed by ‘bailout’ and ‘Obamamania’.

“However, it is interesting to note,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of GLM, “that if you included ‘obama-’ as a root word or word stem, Obama- in its many forms (ObamaMania, Obamamentum, Obmanomics, Obamacize, Obamanation, and even O-phoria and Obamalot as a stand-in for JFK’s Camelot, etc.), would have overtaken both change, and bailout for the top spot. In a year of footnotes, GLM felt it important to add this interesting linguistic twist to the historical record.” [Read More.]

.

Change beats Bailout and Obamamania as Top Word of 2008

Financial Tsunami is Top Phrase, Barack Obama is Top Name

Austin, TX December 1, 2008 - Change is the Top Word, Financial Tsunami is Top Phrase, and Barack Obama is Top Name atop the Global Language Monitor’s (www.Languagemonitor.com) annual global survey of the English language. The estimated number of words in the English language stands at 998,751, just 1,249 from the million-word mark.

Watch the CNN Sunday Morning Video

“Global English has been driven by three notable events during the course of 2008: The US Presidential Election, the Financial Tsunami, and the Beijing Olympics.” said Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor.

For 2008 the words were culled from throughout the English-speaking world which now numbers some 1.58 billion speakers and includes such diverse cultures as India, China, Philippines, and the EuroZone. The analysis was completed using GLM’s Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI), the proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet. The words are tracked in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum and velocity. [Read More.]

The Top Words from the BBC in Chinese

10 Most Confusing (yet widely used) High Tech Buzzwords for 2008

Cloud Computing, Green Washing and Buzzword Compliant

Austin Texas November 21, 2008 — In its third annual Internet and media analysis, The Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com) has found the most confusing yet frequently cited high tech buzzwords of 2008 to be cloud computing, green washing, and buzzword compliant followed by resonate, de-duping, and virtualization.

Rounding out the Top Ten were Web 2.0, versioning, word clouds, and petaflop. The most confusing Acronym for 2008 was SaaS (software as a service).

Paul JJ Payack, president of the Global Language Monitor, said “The words we use in high technology continue to become even more obtuse even as they move out of the realm of jargon and into the language at large.”

The Most Confusing Yet Frequently Cited High Tech Words of 2008 with Commentary follow: [Read More.]

The US Presidential Election and the Financial Tsunami

Seemingly chaotic events reflect normalcy of new reality

A Historical Inflection Point

Austin, Texas, USA. October 13, 2008. The worldwide financial tsunami that has captured the attention of the worldwide media (as well as governments, corporations and ordinary citizens), has come to dominate one of the great quadrennial media events of the post-Modern era. No, we are not referring to the Olympics, most recently held in Beijing, or even football’s World Cup but, rather, the US Presidential elections.

The immediate effect of this unprecedented upheaval of global markets is the obfuscation of the clear lines of division offered by the opposing parties in the US Presidential Elections.

There is the sense that we are witnessing an unprecedented historical event; historical in the sense that we now appear to be standing astride (or atop) a cusp in history, a delta, a decision point, what is now called a point of inflection or inflection point.

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 a steady speed and ever-quicker pace. Indeed, the nature of the beast hasn’t change 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.

The nature of a Tsunami is little understood other than the tremendous damage it unleashes when it washes ashore. What we do know, however, is that a tsunami travels in exceedingly long waves (tens of kilometers in length) racing through the oceanic depths at hundreds of kilometers per hour. Only upon reaching the shore is its true destructive power unleashed for all to see (if they survive to witness it at all).

In the same manner, the traditional media become transfixed with the roiling surface seas but fail to acknowledge the more sustained and significant, movements occurring just beneath the surface.

The surface swirls about in fascinating eddies, but the true transformation is occurring as the nearly undetectable waves rush through the open sea only occasionally, though dramatically, making their way onto shore.

In the same manner, the traditional media focuses on the Twenty-four-hour News Cycle but seem to miss the strong and prevalent currents immediately beneath the surface. They vainly attempt to tie global, transformative, and unprecedented events to relatively parochial events and forces (the Reagan Years, the Clinton administration, Bush 41 and 43, the de-regulation initiatives of Alan Greenspan of ‘99) that are being all but over-shadowed (and –whelmed) by unyielding and all-but irresistible forces.

There is an almost palpable sense and correct sense that things are 1) changing forever, 2) out of our control (or even influence), and 3) will have a direct impact upon the planet for generations to follow.

What we can control, and make sense of, however, is a candidate’s wink, smirk or disdainful reference. We can emphatically pin down our opponents into convenient sound bites, hopefully contradicting earlier sound bites. Do you personally take responsibility for Climate Change? (Does the fact that New York City was beneath 5,000 feet of Ice a few dozen centuries ago influence your vote today? A yes or no will suffice!) Is your personal philosophy, whatever it might be, grounded in a belief system that I can systematically debunk and demean. (Yes or no.) Are you for or against atom smashers creating miniscule black holes that may or may not swallow up the Earth? (Answer yes and you are a barbarian; answer no and you have absolutely no respects of the future prospects of the human race.) Did you ever consider yourself a loser (at any point in your life)? Did you ever make the acquaintance of fellow losers?

Nevertheless, the US Presidential Election will proceed to its own conclusion on the first Tuesday of November in the year two thousand and eight.

For the preceding five years, The Global Language Monitor has attempted to clarify the course (and future course) of human events as documented in the English language.

The tools at our disposal have sometimes allowed us to peer into events and trends that become, otherwise, obscured, by the ‘noise’ of the Twenty-four Hour News Cycle.

Our goal was, and continues to be, to extricate (and explicate upon) the true currents underpinning the events we call news, and to better understand what they mean and how they are perceived with the new media reality in mind.

For example, back in the days preceding the 2004 Presidential election cycle, GLM discovered the fact that once ideas, words and phrases were launched into the vast, uncharted, oceanic Internet, they do not, indeed, die out after twenty-four hours but, rather, travel in deep, powerful currents and waves (not unlike those of a tsunami) that only grow stronger as they make their ways to distant shores.

In this new reality, tsunami-like ideas pass through vast seas of information of the Internet, nearly undetected and often unmeasured, until they crash upon our shorelines, where their full power (and possibly fury) is unleashed.

The fact that we only entertain them for 24 hours before they are dispatched into the archives of what is considered ‘past’ or ‘passed’ and readily discarded, is beyond the point.

We often hear that ‘we’ve never seen anything like this’ before. Of course not. Think back a few hundred years to other information revolutions, such as that introduced along with mechanical type. What do you think the fortunate few thought when they first laid their eyes upon the works of Aristotle, the Bible, or the Arabic translations of Euclid? No one had ever seen anything like that before! Indeed.

And astonishment will only become more so as the future unfolds.

– Paul JJ Payack, President & Chief Word Analyst, The Global Language Monitor

Complete Coverage of the 2008 Elections

admin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:14:14 +0000

Top Television Buzzwords of 2008

The Global Language Monitor’s Fifth Annual Analysis

Austin, Texas, USA. September 24, 2008. The Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com) today announced the top words impacting Global English for the recently ended 2008 television season. The Top Teleword was Beijing as in Beijing Olympics, an appropriate honor for the most watched television program of all time followed by ObamaSpeak, John Adams’ phrase ‘facts are stubborn things’, the ubiquitous ‘it is what it is,’ and Phelpsian. Rounding out the Top Ten were Third Screen, Vincible, Lip Synching, Lipstick (as ‘in on a pig’), and IPTV.

“As always, words stemming from Television’s three screens, impacted Global English in interesting, innovative, and always fascinating ways,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of GLM. “This year, two events dominated television, the Beijing Olympics and the US Presidential Elections”

Read the Reuters article in the Post

‘Obamarama’ u ‘Obamabot’, entre las palabras más impactantes del año (El Mundo)

The Top Telewords of previous years:

2007: “Surge” from the Iraq War political and military strategy, “That’s Hot®” Paris Hilton’s popular expression that is now a registered trademark, and “D’oh!” from The Simpsons and The Simpsons Movie.

2006: ‘Truthiness’ and ‘Wikiality’ from the Colbert Show followed by ‘Katrina’, ‘Katie,’ and ‘Dr. McDreamy’.

2005: ‘Refugee’ from the coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, followed by ‘Desperation’ from Desperate Housewives and ‘Camp Cupcake’ from the on-going Martha Stewart follies.

2004: “You’re Fired!” edged “Mess O’ Potamia” followed by “Girlie Men,” “God,” and “Wardrobe Malfunction”.

{Read More.]

First Internet-based College and University Rankings

Austin, Texas, USA. September 19, 2008. (Updated) In an exclusive TrendTopper Media Buzz^TM analysis of the nation’s colleges and universities, the Global Language Monitor (www.LangaugeMonitor.com) has ranked the nation’s colleges and universities according their appearance on the Internet, throughout the Blogosphere, as well in the global print and electronic media. This analysis will be updated on a quarterly basis.

Read the Story in the Crimson

In the University category, Harvard nipped Columbia for top spot with Michigan, the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford following. Rounding out the top ten were: the University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Yale, Princeton and Cornell.

Taken as a whole, the University of California system would have outdistanced Harvard for the Top Spot by a wide margin.

In the Liberal Arts College category, Colorado College upset Williams for the Top Spot, while Richmond, Middlebury and Wellesley followed. This is the first time, in any national ranking that a Liberal Arts College from the West ranked in the Top Spot. Rounding out the Top Ten were: Bucknell, Amherst, Oberlin, Vassar, and Pomona College. [Read More.}

Olympic TrendTopper MediaBuzz: Sponsors

Lenovo Takes the Gold Pulling Away,

J&J Finishes Strong Edging McDonald’s,

Coca-Cola Leaps Over Rivals

Austin, Texas, USA. August 29, 2008. The final week of the GLM TrendTopperTM analysis of the performance of the Global Sponsors at the Beijing Olympics, Lenovo (OTC: LNVGY) takes the Gold pulling away from the pack, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) finishes strong edging McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) for the Silver, while Coca-Cola (NYSE: K), in a bold move leaps five spots to No. 4. On the downside, Samsung (OTC: SSNFL) and Kodak (NYSE: K) each fell three spots to No. 6 and 7 respectively.

Over the last two weeks Lenovo has completed its remarkable climb from No. 10 to the Top Spot. The analysis was performed by the Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com), the internet and media tracking agency. [Read More]

Olympic TrendTopper MediaBuzz: Athletes

Phelps Takes Gold

Lin Miaoke takes the Silver

Liunkin Edges Johnson for Bronze

Austin, Texas, USA. August 28, 2008. In the medal round of the TrendTopper MediaBuzzTM analysis of the Beijing Olympics, GLM measured how the global media buzz surrounding key athletes changed during the course of the Games. In the MediaBuzz Medal Round, Michael Phelps took the gold as he pulled away from the pack. The silver belongs to Lin Miaoke, the newly-coined media star. And in a mild surprise, Nastia Liunkin bolted from No. 11 to No. 3 edging out Shawn Johnson for the bronze.

Both Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, the Jamaican sprinters, fared poorly evidencing little staying power, while Guo Jing Jing, apparently having had her moment in the sun, faded. And, in yet another compelling twist, Lin Miaoke’s counterpart, Yang Peiyi, the little girl who did, indeed, sing the song the whole world sings moved up ten spots to No. 5. The analysis was performed by the Global Language Monitor (GLM), the internet and media tracking agency. [Read More]

The English Language Codex will attain its 1,000,000th word during the 10-day period around 4/29/09 according to GLM’s latest calculation.

Austin, Texas June 30, 2008 - MetaNewswire - Never before in the history of the world has a single language held as dominant a position as English does today. Over a billion people can now read this sentence-think about that for a minute. With a mind-boggling 25 percent of the world speaking English, that’s a lot of sources for new words to be added to this global language, which brings us to another awesome statistic: according to Paul J.J. Payack, English will adopt its millionth word within a ten-day period centered upon April 29, 2009.

Representative recent additions to the English Language:

Staycation: (noun) Keeping close to home on annual holiday because of economic conditions or the cost of gas/petrol.

e-vampire: (noun) electrical equipment that consumes electricity while in standby mode.Latest Word Nominated for Consideration:

Phelpsian (adj) or Phelpsian Pheat (noun): Accomplishing a hitherto insurmountable feat while remaining a nice guy.

See what Jill Rosen of the Baltimore Sun has to say.

Commentary by Giles Coren (The Times): Here are some newcomers that might make it into the lexicon …

A Million Options but Words Still Fail Us? Into the e-Verbogrinder!

Richmond Times-Dispatch: If We Add a Word to the English Language, Let’s Discontinue One

WordPlay Contest from the Clarion-Ledger

Washington Post’s Millionth Word Contest Results Here

Top Fashion Cities of 2008 Named in Annual Survey

View the Reuters Slide Show

Austin, Texas. July 15, 2008. The Top Fashion Cities of 2007 have been named by the Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com) in its annual global survey. Topping the list for 2008 are New York, Rome, Paris, Milan, London, Los Angeles, Sydney, Las Vegas, Berlin and Tokyo. Madrid (No. 15), Stockholm (No. 20), Cape Town (No. 23) and New Delhi (No. 24) broke into the Top 25. Falling off the list were Sao Paolo and Bangkok.

Other notable movement included Sydney moving up five spots to No.7 and Dubai jumping up twelve spots to No.12.

The View from Italia!

“Our yearly rankings clearly reinforce recent trends: the Big Five (New York, Rome, Paris, Milan, and London), far and away dominate the world of fashion, especially in the eyes of the print and electronic media, as well as on the internet. At the same time, the second tier of the cities in the world fashion rankings are coming on strong,” said Millie Lorenzo Payack, Fashion Correspondent and Director of the Global Language Monitor. “And, by the way, money spent on media outreach can, indeed, make a difference; witness Dubai.” The world ‘rag’ business is estimated to be close to one half trillion USD. Regional rankings are provided below. Read More

Top Political Buzzwords of 2008 Primary Season

Listen to the interview here:

Change, Ill-chosen Words and Race Dominate

Comments by Michelle Obama, Jeremiah Wright and both Clintons

Austin, TX July 2, 2008 MetaNewswire - ‘Change,’ ill-chosen words by Michelle Obama, Jeremiah Wright and both Clintons, and ‘Race’ were named the Top Political Buzz Words and Phrases of the Recently concluded primary season by the Global Language Monitor in its periodic survey. The Top Ten included ‘Just Words,’ ‘Misspoke,’ ‘Inevitability,’ ‘Aloof,’ and ‘Obama a Muslim?’

The word ‘change’ remains atop the chart as it has for the last six months, however Michelle Obama’s ‘proud of my country’ comments rocketed to the No. 2 position, up from No. 5 in the previous survey, knocking the comments by Rev. Wright from the No. 2 to No. 3 position.

“The entire list is quite sobering, and rather surprising. Sobering in the fact that the list is dominated by those issues and sound bites generated by the negative sides of the campaign. The list is surprising in the fact that strong preponderance of the words and phrases are related to the Democratic campaign with just a handful from the Republican side,” said Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor (GLM).

This Sunday, the contenders’ spoken words are talk of the day

Political buzzwords are terms of phrases that become loaded with emotional freight beyond the normal meaning of the word. For example, the word surge has been in the English-language vocabulary since time immemorial. However, in its new context as an Iraq War strategy, it inspires a set of emotions in many people far beyond the norm. [Read More.]

The Lede (New York Times): Has the ’surge’ been surging?

The Hindi’s take on the latest Political Buzzwords

Why Webster’s inclusion of the phrase ‘dark energy’

.

demonstrates the obsolescence of old-style dictionaries

Austin, TX July 8, 2008 - Recently, Merriam-Webster announced the new words it was including in its latest edition of its Collegiate Dictionary. These announcements are often viewed as a subject of amusement, with such additions as “air quotes,” “mental health day,” and “malware” to name but three of the hundred or so words added this year.

What did not amuse us, however, was the addition of the phrase “dark energy”.

You see dark energy is the hypothetical entity that makes up nearly 3/4 of the energy-mass of the Universe. Moreover, it’s the suspected culprit in the speeding up of the expansion of the Universe, which for reasons unknown, began to radically accelerate some five billion years ago. It is key to the current understanding of the theoretical construct of the Universe, how it began - and how it will end. [Read More.]

‘Nappy-Headed Ho’:

Top Politically inCorrect Word or Phrase

Henderson , NV . March 21, 2008. ‘Nappy-headed Ho,” closely followed by ‘Ho-Ho-Ho’ and ‘Carbon Footprint Stomping’ top the list of the most egregious examples of politically inCorrect language found in 2007 by the Global Language Monitor in its annual global survey. This year’s list includes words and phrases from the US , the UK , Australia , and China .

Read: Shock jock named king of politically incorrect

“It is no surprise that a ‘Nappy-headed Ho’ was selected as the Top Politically Incorrect word or phrase for 2007,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of The Global Language Monitor (GLM). “A year later that phrase is still ricocheting about the Internet even affecting Christmas-season Santas in Australia.” The list was nominated by the GLM’s Language Police, volunteer language observers from the world over.

The Top Politically Incorrect Terms and Phrases for previous years include:

2006: Global Warming Denier
2005: Misguided Criminals
2004: Master/Slave computer jargon

[Read More]