English
22 February 2010
I’m just reading the paper by the American Dialect Society (PDF) about the word of the year (2009) and the word of the decade (2000–2009).
The word of the decade was google. The word of the year was tweet. But there are some other interesting winners: for example, sea kitten was voted the most unnecessary word of the decade. The term was coined by PETA as a synonym for fish in an effort to change their public image, as the organization’s website states:
People don’t seem to like fish. They’re slithery and slimy, and they have eyes on either side of their pointy little heads—which is weird, to say the least. Plus, the small ones nibble at your feet when you’re swimming, and the big ones—well, the big ones will bite your face off if Jaws is anything to go by. [. . . But] who could possibly want to put a hook through a sea kitten?
And besides, “Knowing that the fish sticks in the school cafeteria are really made out of tortured sea kittens makes most kids want to lose their lunch.”
This has given rise to some satirical pictures of ‘sea kittens’:
Leave a reply