Every year, lexicographers at Oxford University Press track words that pop up in the English language and bestow the honor of Word of the Year on one of these new words. For 2009, the word “unfriend” wins that honor:
unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.
Also making the list of finalists is the word “teabagger”:
teabagger – a person who protests President Obama’s tax policies and stimulus package, often through local demonstrations known as “Tea Party” protests (in allusion to the Boston Tea Party of 1773.
Once again, the teabaggers are on the losing side. Usually they lose to Democrats. This is the first time they’ve lost to a word. For what it’s worth, I think they were robbed. Though I’ve heard the word “teabagger” used numerous times (I live in western Maryland), I’ve never heard the word “unfriend” used before.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Trust me Rick, if you were a teenager or twenty-something immersed in MySpace and/or Facebook, you’d hear plety about “unfriending.”
@Ryan: On the contrary, I’m quite familiar with the term. I was recently “unfriended” by my aunt on Facebook. I just didn’t know there was a word for it.
@Rick: Ooh, harsh!