Our little planet that was, is in the news again, and receiving some recognition, though not from astronomers.
In its 17th annual Words of the Year vote, the American Dialect Society voted "plutoed" as the word of the year. To pluto is to demote or devalue someone or something, as happened to the former planet Pluto when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto no longer met its definition of a planet.
Founded in 1889, the American Dialect Society is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it. Members include academics and amateurs, professionals and dilettantes, teachers and writers.
At the January 5 voting session, several words were considered for the honor, including (The number after each nomination is the number of votes it received.):
- murse: man’s purse - 0
- surge: increase in troops - 4
- climate canary: first vote 16
- prohibited liquids: fluids that cannot be transported by passengers on airplanes; "bodily excretions of a disgusting nature." -15
- flog: a blog that flacks product - 4
- YouTube: 12
- to be plutoed, to pluto 47
- macaca/macaca moment: 13
Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as “vocabulary item”—not just words but phrases. The words or phrases do not have to be brand new, but they have to be newly prominent or notable in the past year, in the manner of Time magazine’s Person of the Year. The vote is fully informed by the members’ expertise in the study of words, but it is far from a solemn occasion.
Professor Wayne Glowka of Georgia College and State University, chair of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society, who conducts the column "Among the New Words" in the society’s quarterly journal American Speech, said "It was good that the society focused on a genuine scientific concern. Though I believe the nomination came in from outer space."
In a companion vote, sibling organization the American Name Society voted Pluto as Name of the Year for 2006 in its third annual name-of-the-year contest. ANS President Cleveland Evans said, "Our members believe the great emotional reaction of the public to the demotion of Pluto shows the importance of Pluto as a name. We may no longer believe in the Roman god Pluto, but we still have a sense of personal connection with the former planet."