OUP USA 2010 Word of the Year: Refudiate
Editor’s note: I love being right. I really, really love it. In July, I guessed that “refudiate” would be named Word of the Year, and TA-DAH! I was right. What Paul the Octopus was to the FIFA World Cup, I am to WOTY (may he rest in peace). But that’s enough about me because what’s really important is that…
Refudiate
has been named the New Oxford American Dictionary’s 2010 Word of the Year!
refudiate verb used loosely to mean “reject”: she called on them to refudiate the proposal to build a mosque.
[origin — blend of refute and repudiate]
Now, does that mean that “refudiate” has been added to the New Oxford American Dictionary? No it does not. Currently, there are no definite plans to include “refudiate” in the NOAD, the OED, or any of our other dictionaries. If you are interested in the most recent additions to the NOAD, you can read about them here. We have many dictionary programs, and each team of lexicographers carefully tracks the evolution of the English language. If a word becomes common enough (as did last year’s WOTY, unfriend), they will consider adding it to one (or several) of the dictionaries we publish. As for “refudiate,” well, I’m not yet sure that it will be includiated.
Refudiate: A Historical Perspective
An unquestionable buzzword in 2010, the word refudiate instantly evokes the name of Sarah Palin, who tweeted her way into a flurry of media activity when she used the word in certain statements posted on Twitter. Critics pounced on Palin, lampooning what they saw as nonsensical vocabulary and speculating on whether she meant “refute” or “repudiate.”
From a strictly lexical interpretation of the different contexts in which Palin has used “refudiate,” we have concluded that neither “refute” nor “repudiate” seems consistently precise, and that “refudiate” more or less stands on its own, suggesting a general sense of “reject.”
Although Palin is likely to be forever branded with the coinage of “refudiate,” she is by no means the first person to speak or write it—just as Warren G. Harding was not the first to use the word normalcy when he ran his 1920 presidential campaign under the slogan “A return to normalcy.” But Harding was a political celebrity, as Palin is now, and his critics spared no ridicule for his supposedly ignorant mangling of the correct word “normality.”
The Short List
In alphabetical order, here are our top ten finalists for the 2010 Word of the Year selection:
bankster noun (informal) a member of the banking industry perceived as a predator that grows rich at the expense of those suffering in a crumbling economy: trillions of dollars are flowing to the banksters in the form of near-zero interest loans.
[origin — 1930s: blend of banker and gangster]
crowdsourcing noun the practice whereby an organization enlists a variety of freelancers, paid or unpaid, to work on a specific task or problem: Kodak used social media crowdsourcing to engage its customers in their naming contest.
[origin — early 21st cent.: on the pattern of outsourcing]
double-dip adjective denoting or relating to a recession during which a period of economic decline is followed by a brief period of growth, followed by a further period of decline: higher food and energy prices could increase the risk of a double-dip recession.
gleek noun (informal) a fan of the television series Glee.
[origin — early 21st cent.: blend of Glee and geek]
nom nom (informal) exclamation an expression of delight when eating.
pl. noun (nom noms) delicious food.
verb (nom-nom) eat delicious food with obvious enjoyment.
adjective (nom-nommy) descriptive of delicious food.
[origin — imitative; popularized by the noises made by the character Cookie Monster on Sesame Street (usually as “Om nom nom nom”)]
retweet verb (on the social networking service Twitter) repost or forward (a message posted by another user): people love to retweet job ads.
noun a reposted or forwarded message on Twitter.
Tea Party a US political party that emerged from a movement of conservatives protesting the federal government in 2009.
[origin — allusion to the Boston Tea Party of 1773]
top kill noun a procedure designed to seal a leaking oil well, whereby large amounts of a material heavier than the oil—e.g., mud—are pumped into the affected well.
vuvuzela noun (also called vuvu) a long horn blown by fans at soccer matches.
[origin — South African, perhaps from Zulu]
webisode noun 1. an original episode derived from a television series, made for online viewing.
2. an online video that presents an original short film or promotes a product, movie, or television series.
[origin — 1990s: blend of Web and episode]
Thoughts? Leave a comment!
[...] has been added to the New Oxford American Dictionary. It isn’t exactly new, according to the Oxford University Press Blog. Rather, it was thrust into the spotlight by Palin’s use of it to generally reject statements [...]
Good to see the “left” have a collective “cow”.
So…refudiate is silly.
But not nearly as silly as this crowd-all lathered up because it came from that subhuman Palin. You folks need jobs!
And of course, anything that (re: Marva)has “English professors slashing their throats” can’t be all bad!
I’ve got another : “Palin-drone” – a word that smells the same backwards as it smells forward?
[...] The word crowdsourcing was among those nominated by the New Oxford American Dictionary for their Word of the Year. Unfortunately, it was beat out by “refudiate,” a word invented by Sarah Palin in a [...]
[...] year, a group of people at OUP USA put our heads together and come up with a Word of the Year. This is an example of a word (or expression) that we feel has attracted a great deal of new [...]
[...] you haven’t heard – well, how haven’t you heard? “Refudiate” is the New Oxford American Dictionary’s 2010 Word of the Year. (And no, that doesn’t mean “refudiate” has been added to the NOAD or any other [...]
[...] noticed that the Oxford University Press building on Madison Avenue had a window display for their Word of the Year announcement. How delicious! I had to take a few shots.Being a word lover I adore' [...]
[...] the original here: OUP USA 2010 Word of the Year: Refudiate Related Posts:Refudiate Named New Oxford American Dictionary's 2010 Word of the YearSorry, [...]
[...] Oxford American Dictionary blog editor Lauren Appelwick is reporting “refudiate” as the 2010 Word of the Year, joining past recipients “unfriend”, “truthiness” and so many other wonders of the internet [...]
Interesting that the other popularizing word-coiner you mention is Warren Harding, probably the best-looking man ever to be President of the United States. But dumber than a brick.
History about to repeat? Interesting. Harding, America ascending. Palin: the last nail in the coffin. From shirtsleeves to empire to shirtsleeves in five generations. Now that’s fast!
[...] refudiate, Sarah Palin’s mistaken combination of refute and repudiate, was made one of the New Oxford American Dictionary’s words of the year, I’m sure that the first thing you thought about was the rant that languageandgrammar.com was [...]
[...] course, NOAD’s selection of refudiate as its 2010 Word of the Year puts the spotlight on political celeb Sarah Palin’s presumably inadvertent blending of [...]
[...] Although Palin is likely to be forever branded with the coinage of “refudiate,” she is by no means the first person to speak or write it—just as Warren G. Harding was not the first to use the word normalcy when he ran his 1920 presidential campaign under the slogan “A return to normalcy.” But Harding was a political celebrity, as Palin is now, and his critics spared no ridicule for his supposedly ignorant mangling of the correct word “normality.” (Source: OUP blog) [...]
[...] refudiate has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, published by the Oxford University Press, beating out a [...]
[...] All Palin’s attempted banter is unabashedly awkward. She tells her kayak guide, “Eric, you look like Jesus. We’re in good hands,” only to provoke the withering deadpan response, “I’ve heard that before.” She waxes profound about life, noting that it’s nice to be outdoors, away from “those things that are kind of on the periphery of our lives that seem to consume it.” This could mean anything! Plato, in his dialogue Theaetetus, likens the process of hitting upon an idea to a hunter seeking a fluttering knowledge bird who sometimes happens to seize upon a fluttering ignorance bird instead. This is similar to what I imagine the process of coming up with a Palin speech or tweet is. Sarah Palin knows a lot of four-syllable words! More than the dictionary knows, sometimes. [...]
[...] New Oxford American Dictionary recently announced its Word Of The Year is “refudiate.” This doesn’t mean it has officially become a [...]
[...] New Oxford American Dictionary has named “refudiate” as the Word of the Year, defining it as a “verb used loosely to mean ‘reject:’” An unquestionable [...]
[...] Refudiate has been named the New Oxford American Dictionary’s 2010 Word of the Year I’ve posted about the word and its origin here. refudiate verb used loosely to mean “reject”: she called on them to refudiate the proposal to build a mosque. [origin — blend of refute and repudiate] [...]
[...] Refudiate – reject. ( Oxford American Dictionary ‘s word of the year). [...]
[...] The definitions can be seen at the OUP blog. [...]
Sarah is just too dumb to know better, I am sure she thought that was a word!
[...] their word of the year (close cousin to deficit), while the Oxford American Dictionary plumped for refudiate (though it refudiated including it in the published dictionary). The favourite dictionary of yours [...]
[...] Read the Beyond Words commentary on Refudiate-Gate 2010: Language and Politics: Palin Refudiates Critics Read about the Oxford American Dictionary selection: OUP USA 2010 Word of the Year: Refudiate [...]
[...] Refudiate: New Oxford American Dictionary’s word of the year by Julie on January 5, 2011 According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, “refudiate” is the word of the year 2010. It’s a verb “used loosely to mean reject”, a mix of “refute” and “repudiate” (http://blog.oup.com/2010/11/refudiate-2/). [...]
[...] doing the naming and what you’re reading, because the New Oxford American Dictionary made it Word of the Year (Maybe refudiate will be Sarah Palin’s lifetime achievement?) Dr. Lynne was definitely [...]
[...] Oxford University Press USA got the party started with refudiate, the word everyone loves to hate. (This would be a good time to share the excellent post by Stan Carey at Sentence First, “‘Not a word’ is not an argument.”) [...]
[...] doing the naming and what you’re reading, because the New Oxford American Dictionary made it Word of the Year (Maybe refudiate will be Sarah Palin’s lifetime achievement?) Dr. Lynne was definitely [...]
[...] New Oxford American Dictionary [...]
[...] New Oxford American Dictionary dubbed “refudiate” the word of 2010, following it’s 2009 word [...]
[...] The definitions can be seen at the OUP blog. [...]
[...] Refudiate is almost a better word than vuvuzela, because it’s not so much a real word as a neologism, one much of America attributes to Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, who used it in a Twitter message in July. (She took a real shellacking for that.) The Oxford University Press called it the word of the year. [...]
Why does America need to usurp the English Language – “our language” ???? Is it so insecure in this time when it is facing the irrefutable evidence of its own demise? American English … is just that, American ENGLISH .. a variant of an original. Its ability to adapt is not American at all. It comes from its historical roots.
Asian students of English are seduced by America’s past glory as number 1, into thinking that American English is somehow normal, even desirable because it is so recognisable (cultural imperialism?). Unfortunately, like most Americans, Asian students of English are often ignorant of the fact that it is spoken by so many millions in so many other countries and that these others don’t speak “american english”, that that form of English is only a variant of a much bigger family of languages, all connected by their historical roots.
This ignorant cultural imperialism continues … I guess it’s like the orchestra playing even while the Titanic was sinking …
Your language ?? is English first, and the American variant second.
“Nom nom nom nom” is also a colloquial/children’s expression in Farsi meaning “delicious.”
[...] Refudiate is almost a better word than vuvuzela, because it’s not so much a real word as a neologism, one much of America attributes to Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, who used it in a Twitter message in July. (She took a real shellacking for that.) The Oxford University Press called it the word of the year. [...]
I guess I would DEFINITELY be considered a Gleek since I started a website showcasing all the episodes of Glee!
Refudiate looks like a malamanteau to me!
Funny list, specially vuvuzela
‘Nom Noms’
Honestly, if i hear anyone using that word they’re just retarded, it should have an age limit. Which grown man would look at a platter of food and say “yeah Non Noms”. It even looks weird being capitalized!.
in what context could this word be effectively used and the meaning is projected without sounding retarded??