“Subprime” was the American Dialect Society‘s word of the year (yes, it happened in January so I’m late in posting about it), but the word that had my vote is “Googleganger.” Like doppleganger, it means a person with your name who shows up when you Google yourself. I was interested to see my own Googlegangers include several doctors, a representative of England on the European Squash Federation and a person who gave up her screen printing shop to work with greyhounds.
The Society assures us that the members voting, who include linguists, etymologists, grammarians, writers and other word people, “act in fun and do not pretend to be officially inducting words into the English language. Instead, they are highlighting that language change is normal, ongoing and entertaining.”
Doesn’t that sound like a shot at Merriam-Webster (their word was “w00t” as an expression of joy) or Oxford (“locavore” for using locally grown food)?