Mummy porn, Gangnam Style, Zuckered and Leg-bomb… would we have had any idea of what these words meant this time last year?
Probably not.
But now these words have become part of our everyday language, in fact, they are the ‘words of 2012’.
CollinsDictionary.com selected 12 words, one for each month, which played their part in defining the past year.
Members of the public submitted their own suggestions to the dictionary publisher and the final list reflect the top news stories and trends of the year.
South Korean musician Psy’s catchy song Gangnam Style was chosen as the word for November, the month in which it became the most-viewed video on YouTube with close to one billion views.
December’s phrase is ‘Fiscal cliff’ after talks of the US government’s tax and spending plan that could throw their economy back into a recession.
March’s word was ‘Eurogeddon’, coined after the economic situation in the Eurozone worsened.
April brought ‘Mummy porn’ to the world as the 50 Shades of Grey book was published.
Summer in the UK brought two new phrases to the world: ‘Jubilympics’ recalls June where Britain prepared to host the London Olympics and celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. ‘Games makers’ were the people involved in bringing the world-famous games to London.
‘Legbomb’ hit the world in February, anyone remember Angelina Jolie’s right leg jutting out of her high-slit dress at the Oscars?
We had a ball off the word ‘legbomb’… It was popping up everywhere!
‘Zuckered’ is a word the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg will probably never want to hear again. In May, Facebook launched its public offering of the site and its share price plummeted almost immediately after hitting the market. Ouch.
The list is completed with January’s nominated word, “Broga”. The word, formed from the combination of “bro” and yoga, accompanied the launch of a new form of yoga tailored to men.
The publisher said not all of their 12 words of the year will have the longevity to be accepted for the Collins print dictionary.
