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'Subprime' is linguists' word of year
Daniel Peart stands next to a 'for sale' sign in front of his home in Poway, Calif., in this March 22, 2007
Used to describe a risky loan, 'subprime' has been chosen as the Word of the Year 2007 by American Dialect Society at its annual convention Friday.
"`Subprime' has been around with bankers for awhile, but now everyone is talking about `subprime,'" said Wayne Glowka, a spokesman for the group."It's affecting all kinds of people in all kinds of places."
About 80 members of the organization spent two days debating the merits of runners-up "Facebook," "green," "Googleganger" and "waterboarding" before voting for an adjective that means "a risky or less than ideal loan, mortgage or investment."
The choice signifies the public's concern for a "deepening mortgage crisis," the society said in a statement.
"Facebook," as a noun, verb or adjective, was popular with younger linguists, Glowka said.
Several people lobbied for "green," which "designates environmental concern," but the term has been around for years, he said. The word topped the 2007 "Most Useful" category, one of numerous subgroups the society choses.
The group also decided that although "waterboarding," an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, gained a lot of attention during recent attorney general confirmation hearings, it was a bigger deal in 2004, Glowka said.
But what's a "Googleganger?"
A play on "doppelganger," the word is "a person with your name who shows up when you Google yourself," according to the society. It was named as the "Most Creative" word.
As for "subprime," Glowka said it is an odd word — at least as far as linguists are concerned.
The prefix "sub" translates roughly to "below the standard," while "prime" means something close to "the best."
So, according to Glowka, the word really means "far below the best."
In 2006, the organization chose "plutoed," which means "to be demoted or devalued."
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