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Words Of The Year: App, Nom & Junk

"Austerity" is the most looked-up word of 2010, but "App" is the American Dialect Society's pick for the top term of the year notes KFI.The tech-y abbreeve for a cell phone or computer software program won extra exposure with the slogan "There's an app for that," app stores, and according to the official press release, “One of the most convincing arguments from the voting floor was from a woman who said that even her grandmother had heard of it.” We've come a long way from the 1994 winner, "cyber."
Cookie Monster and Domo have something to celebrate too -- the 2010 runner-up award went to the onomatopoetic, "nom," signifying a pleasurable eating experience. In third place, with 17 votes, was "junk," as in "junk shot (attempt to fix BP oil spill), junk status (Greece’s credit rating), don’t touch my junk (protest against TSA pat-down procedure)" notes the official release.
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