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| "I know I'm still useful, but I'm not feeling the love..." |
A distinguished panel of editors, lexicographers and other linguistic experts at Dictionary.com have chosen the Word of the Year for 2011. The winning word is: Tergiversate
Haven't heard that particular word being used while eavesdropping on other people's conversations while standing in the check-out line or at the water cooler during morning break? The definition of tergiversate is to "change repeatedly one's attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.; equivocate.” (There's a photograph of a sash-wearing politician located beside the word's entry in the dictionary.)
Jay Schwartz, Head of Content for Dictionary.com, tells the Huffington Post, "We're taking a stand on this choice. We think that it's immensely rewarding to find existing words that capture a precise experience, and this year, tumult has been the norm rather than the exception. There are contested public spaces around the world, where people are demonstrating in one direction or another. Opinions and circumstances have been oscillating so much."
The expert panel considered other words for selection this year, including "occupy", "austerity", "jobs" (employment as well as Mr. Steve) and "insidious". The origins of the word tergiversate comes from the Latin for "to turn one's back".
Apparently, the word is so cutting-edge that my blog's spell-check doesn't even recognize it!
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