As expected, this word won the annual race to be crowned "Word of the Year" for the year 2011 as rated by the American Dialect Society. This beat out the likes of "FOMO" ("Fear of Missing Out"), "99%", "humblebrag", and "job creator". Unlike the choice of "Squeezed Middle" by the OED (
IZ 436), this met the approval of critics and laymen alike.
Uniquely, the winning word-concept was deemed so influential, spawning several associated words in 2011, that the Society even created a special category named after this word. This category was won by "99%" while the Word of the Year 2011 was humbled into taking 2nd spot. In a category named after it. Complicated?
What's the good word?
[+ Show Answer]
"Occupy". Read the entire list at
the Society page here.