And the word of 2012 is…
Hashtag
This doesn’t surprise me. It feels like hashtag has been around a lot longer — that’s how much a part of our vernacular it has so quickly become.
What does surprise me is who makes the grand proclamation of “Word of the Year” — the American Dialect Society.
I’ve never heard of them.
Founded in 1889, the organization is dedicated to the study of the English language and supports the Dictionary of American Regional English. They also publish American Speech magazine.
#whoknew?
I have to tell you, hashtags can be one of my biggest pet peeves. People use them EVERYWHERE. I work in social media, so the proper use of hashtags is my forte (yes…call me a snob if you must). The real purpose of my comment is to tell you that one set of parents decided to name their BABY Hashtag. So, yes indeed it was the word of the year.
Agreed. Poor Baby Hashtag has evil parents.