The Oxford English Dictionary has chosen "omnishambles" as the
word of the year 2012, it said Monday. The word, defined as "a situation
that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of
blunders and miscalculations," was chosen for its "linguistic
productivity" in describing the crisis facing the British media and the
government as well as its popularity.
Each year the publisher tracks how the English language is changing and chooses a word that best reflects the mood of the year.
"Omnishambles" was coined by the BBC political satire "The Thick of It" and has been used to describe the British government's mishaps from PR blunders to the crisis-ridden preparations or the London Olympics. The U.K. media experienced its share of omnishambles this year ranging from a botched cover-up of phone-hacking to the resignations of the BBC's chief and head of programming following revelations that a popular broadcaster was a pedophile.
The word has already generated offspring such as "Romneyshambles" to describe the U.S. presidential candidate's frequent gaffes. In July Romnney said he doubted if London could host the Olympics successfully.
Each year the publisher tracks how the English language is changing and chooses a word that best reflects the mood of the year.
"Omnishambles" was coined by the BBC political satire "The Thick of It" and has been used to describe the British government's mishaps from PR blunders to the crisis-ridden preparations or the London Olympics. The U.K. media experienced its share of omnishambles this year ranging from a botched cover-up of phone-hacking to the resignations of the BBC's chief and head of programming following revelations that a popular broadcaster was a pedophile.
The word has already generated offspring such as "Romneyshambles" to describe the U.S. presidential candidate's frequent gaffes. In July Romnney said he doubted if London could host the Olympics successfully.
No comments:
Post a Comment