The New Oxford American Dictionary announces its “Word of the Year.”
For 2009, that word is a verb, one with which we in our social network-obsessed culture should be very familiar:
For 2009, that word is a verb, one with which we in our social network-obsessed culture should be very familiar:
“Unfriend: To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.”
Let the harrumphing begin! And then put a sock in it, my friend. Language evolves. Civilization fails to end.
It has been ever thus. There are 300 million plus users on Facebook worldwide. Even if you and your
spell-checker don’t approve of the NOAD’s newest verb “unfriend,” odds are, you’ve done it.
As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight,” illustrates the Oxford University Press blog.
As in, “One of the many ways to b**** slap someone on 'Teh Interweb,’ ” as defined by Urban Dictionary,
the official Web site of unofficial language where many a new word makes its debut long before Oxford and the other gatekeepers
of the English language acknowledge nomenclature that comes to stay.
('Cause, ya know ... nerdlets were ‘unfriending’ on LiveJournal Internet eons ahead of Facebook.)
It has been ever thus. There are 300 million plus users on Facebook worldwide. Even if you and your
spell-checker don’t approve of the NOAD’s newest verb “unfriend,” odds are, you’ve done it.
As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight,” illustrates the Oxford University Press blog.
As in, “One of the many ways to b**** slap someone on 'Teh Interweb,’ ” as defined by Urban Dictionary,
the official Web site of unofficial language where many a new word makes its debut long before Oxford and the other gatekeepers
of the English language acknowledge nomenclature that comes to stay.
('Cause, ya know ... nerdlets were ‘unfriending’ on LiveJournal Internet eons ahead of Facebook.)
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