2010 Words of the Year

This post comes courtesy of Erin Brenner's website, The Writing Resource:

Some people get excited when their team wins the playoffs. Others are ecstatic when their candidate wins the general election. With word geeks, it’s when a favorite word makes a Word of the Year list. This week we examine some of the most popular word lists (one is a banish word list, so I guess you’re glad if your word doesn’t make it). Did your favorite word make the cut? Could you, would you use any of them in your writing?

• App: application American Dialect Society 2010 Word of the Year
• Austerity: the act of severe or stern manner or behavior. Merriam-Webster 2010 Word of the Year
• Viral: describes how something other than a virus (such as a video) can spread like a virus. Lake Superior State University 2010 Banished Word of the Year
• Refudiate: a mashup of refute and repudiate. New Oxford American Dictionary 2010 Word of the Year
• Kinetic event: used by the Pentagon to describe violent attacks on American troops in Afghanistan. American Dialect Society 2010 Most Euphemistic Word of the Year