When 2008 is but a mere memory, what buzzwords will it have yielded that actually last? The New York Times ran a lengthy piece this past weekend offering a list of 38 buzzwords and phrases the authors say were made popular this year, including many politically-oriented terms, given that we just experienced a historic presidential election season.
Among the political terms:
-- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spawned three on the list: Caribou Barbie, "hockey mom" and "lipstick on a pig." "Maverick" was also on the list, but mostly because John McCain used it liberally about himself and then applied it to Palin.
-- Barack Obama was credited with spawning a whole host of derivations of his name -- both positive and negative -- ranging from "Obamanation" to "Obamacize and "Obamafy." His playful gesture with his wife Michelle was called a potential "terrorist fist jab" by a Fox News Channel anchor, not in jest.
-- "Joe" was there for a multitude of reasons, from Joe the Plumber, to "Joe Six-Pack" and "Amtrak Joe" (as in Joe Biden who took Amtrak to and from work).
Apolitical buzzwords included:
-- "Phelpsian" as in something having to do with Olympic gold be-dazzled swimmer Michael Phelps, or his insanely calorie-ific diet of a bazillion calories.
-- "Sister Wife," first heard by many on HBO's Big Love, but mentioned on this list because of the news stories spawned by this year's raid on a Texas polygamous compound.
-- Any form of the word Twitter (tweet, Twittering), of which I'd never heard until this year, unless it had to do with a bird.
Any words or phrases you think should've been on their list but wasn't? I'd toss into the mix: "Bailout" (self-explanatory), "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits" (Hillary Clinton's nickname for her followers) and "bleep" in honor of the embattled Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich.
Image credit: New York Times.
