Scroll down for the complete list of the 2014 Words of the Year
|
|
December 1: |
ISIS (or is it ISIL?)
Though ISIS (or is it ISIL?) is the first word on our list of "Words of the Year," it is actually on the bottom of our list since we are working our way down to the final (and official) "Word of the Year" (the final/official "Word of the Year" will be announced at 12:00 noon EST on New Year's Eve).
Some might argue, perhaps, that ISIS (or is it ISIL?) should be higher on our list of "Words of the Year" (or "lower" since we will be working our way down), but we pooh pooh that idea because... (a) ISIS (or is it ISIL?) can't decide which word it is (Is it ISIS or is it ISIL?), (b) we don't very much like ISIS (or is it ISIL?), and (c) we just like saying "pooh pooh." |
Above: The flag of the terrorist organization ISIS (or is it ISIL?),
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) [or is it the Islamic State of Iraq and the Leant (ISIL)?] |
|
Honorable Mentions (words/phrases that didn't make our complete list of 31 "Words of the Year" but are worthy of mention):
* Black Widows – the female suicide bombers expected at the Olympic games in Sochi * "Degrade and Destroy" – the Obama administration's strategy toward ISIS (or is it ISIL?) * A "comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy" – John Kerry's way of saying "war" without saying "war." |
December 2: |
Because"Because" is the next word on our list of "Words of the Year" for 2014.
Because why? The American Dialect Society named "because" the "Word of the Year" for 2013, but they announced the honor in early January; therefore, the breaking news of because-a-palooza and the resulting hulla-because-abaloo occurred in 2014. "It has to do with a new development in the syntax of because," wrote Neal Whitman on VisualThesaurus.com. He referred to the construction as "Because NOUN." However, in a recap of the ADS voting, Ben Zimmer cited other forms too: "What has been happening lately online, especially on Twitter and Tumblr, is that people use because with a more terse follow-up: introducing a noun ('I love ice cream because flavor'), an adjective ('I love ice cream because delicious'), or an interjection ('I love ice cream because yum!')." |
Above: The flag of
Mutineers Of Because (MOB), a terrorist group which split off from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) to protest the ADS Word of the Year for 2013 |
|
|
As a result, some began to refer to this syntactical construction as "because X."
Hmmm. We suppose it remains to be seen if the "because" phenomenon will flourish or fizzle. We tend to think, though, that the "got X" sensation first introduced by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein and Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993 (got milk?) had more staying power. Only time will tell if, beyond 2014, logophiles will ask, "Got because?" |
|
Pictured at the left: The ADS choice for the 2013 Word of the Year furthered a rift between the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the American Dialect Society (ADS). Click the image to enlarge. The ADS-NCTE battle has continued throughout all of 2014. As a result, the ADS has had to employ a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy, particularly against the Mutineers of Because (MOB), a splinter group of the NCTE. |
December 3: |
Twenty-Sixteen
"Twenty-sixteen," the next word on our countdown of "Words of the Year" for 2014, topped the list of the most frequently used words by news anchors on network and cable news programs throughout the year. The top five words (excluding articles and common prepositions) uttered by the news pundits in 2014 were as follows:
1. Twenty-sixteen 2. Snow 3. Unrest 4. Denied 5. Obama Fox News, for example, used the word "twenty-sixteen" well over 92,000 times over the course of the year. They even set a world's record by using the word over 7,000 times in one day, including 412 times in reference to Sarah Palin, 383 times concerning Chris Christie, 315 times regarding Ted Cruz, 283 times about Joe the Plumber, 213 times for Jeb Bush, 187 times for Todd Palin, 153 times in reference to Bristol Palin, 112 times about Rand Paul, 97 times each for Ted Nugent, Donald Trump, Mitt Romney, and the Palin dog "Moose," and twice in regards to Hillary Clinton. "Twenty-sixteen" was on our countdown last year, and it remains on our list this year because a politician in Washington, D.C., can't look westward toward Des Moines without a reporter jamming a microphone in his or her face whilst shrieking "twenty-sixteen?" It's sure to appear on our list of "Words of the Year" next year, though in 2016 it will undoubtedly be replaced by "twenty-twenty." |
Above: Iowa, the vacation wonderland for presidential hopefuls, is home to the world's
largest wooden nickel. |
December 4: |
Hercules
You're probably asking yourself why "Hercules" is next on our list of "Words of the Year." Don't you remember Winter Storm Hercules, the first major storm of 2014?
When it comes to last winter, it's probably a safe bet that you remember the slipped Polar Vortex, the record cold temperatures, and the extreme snow falls even if you can't recall the specifics of Winter Storm Hercules. We have included Hercules on our list because (a) it was the first storm of the new year and did involve record low temperatures and significant snow fall, and (b) it was the first time we picked up on the fact that the Weather Channel was naming winter storms, a custom they'd been practicing since November 2012 (starting with Winter Storm Athena). How in the world did we miss this? To be honest, we did miss the fact that derechos existed until 2012, we were unaware of roll clouds until 2013, and we never heard of a firenado until 2014 -- so when it comes to weather phenomenon, we're not surprised at all that we missed the new-fashioned (albeit goofy) custom of naming winter storms. When it comes to summer/fall storms, we do remember Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Andrew, Irene, Hugo and more, but our memories are more than a bit cloudy (no pun intended) when it comes to Winter Storms Draco, Euclid, Seneca, Maximus, and Xerxes. Maybe this year's storms Frona, Gorgon, and Zelus will make a bigger impact. Only time will tell. Honorable Mention:
* #Rokerthon - We have to admit that we were aware of 2014's weather phenomenon known as #Rokerthon, Al Roker's successful attempt to set a world's record for weather forecasting/broadcasting. We're just overjoyed that he didn't attempt a record-setting endeavor called #Rokerthong. 
Pictured above: Al Roker, the subject of Carly Simon's classic hit "You're So Vain," goes for a world record during #Rokerthon.
|
Above: Tracking "Hercules"
Above: 2012's East Coast derecho
Above: A roll cloud in 2013
Above: A firenado in 2014
|
December 5: |
Libido
Two things old white men know a lot about are Presidential politics and women's libidos, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is a master at mixing the two. He proved his unrivaled expertise this past year when he cautioned women about the Democrat's comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy against their uncontrollable libidos. If women could just control themselves, he said the GOP would "empower them to be something other than the victims of their gender."
Old white me. Ya gotta love 'em! Honorable Mention:
* Uncle Sugar - Avuncular lawmakers in our nation's capital (introduced to us by Mike Huckabee) who have the sole authority to enact and administer legislation which allows us all to unleash our intense and irrepressible urges. * Castrating Hogs - A greatly admired talent of a famale Senator-elect from Iowa. Hopefully, when she arrives in Washington she can control her libido long enough to work her magic on all those old white hogs, er, men. Hopefully someone will introduce her to Mike Hukabee. |
Above: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee,
master of his own gender. |
December 6:
|
Beygency
When Andrew Garfield hosted Saturday Night Live last May, the broadcast included a three-and-a-half minute movie trailer for "The Beygency" which some have hailed as "the best 'SNL' sketch of all time." But was it all fiction? Not in the least -- for it was in May that TMZ discovered and reported on the existence of The Beygency, led by Beyoncé's sister Solange.
|
|
|
|
Pictured at the far left: HuffPost TV's review of "The Beygency." Pictured at the left: TMZ uncovers the existence of the clandestine agency called "The Beygency." |
December 7: |
RSPECT and RE2PECT
When it comes to respect, we suspect President Obama might describe 2014 in terms of the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, "I don't get no respect." Then, like the runner up at a middle school spelling bee, he added to the problem by misspelling the word! At a White House concert honoring various music legends, President Obama gave Aretha Franklin a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T -- but he forgot the first "E": RSPECT!
|
Above: Obama giving a little RSPECT.
|
Above: Honoring Derek Jeter with a little RE2PECT.
|
|
Later in the year, when five-time World Series champion Derek Jeter retired from the New York Yankees, fans showed him a little respect by purposefully altering the spelling of the word with a "2" as a backwards "S": RE2PECT.
|
|
|
Honorable Mentions:
* Feuilleton & Stichomythia -- the winning words spelled correctly to conclude the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee in a tie between Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe. A "feuilleton" is a part of a newspaper or magazine devoted to fiction, criticism, or light literature. "Stichomythia" is a dialogue in which two characters speak alternate lines of verse. |
December 8: |
Adele DazeemThe name of year above and beyond all others is that of Adele Dazeem (pictured at the right).
Adele provides the voice for the character Elsa in Disney's animated film "Frozen," and the world met her in real life when she was introduced by John Travolta at the 2014 Academy Awards to sing the Oscar winning song "Let It Go." We'll be honest -- we at the ELD Museum aren't great fans of the song "Let It Go." We do have a PG-rated site, so to put it in PG-13 lingo -- if all readers under 13 would please look away -- we think it's a crap-ass song (okay -- you under-thirteen-year-olds can look back). However, we love Adele Dazeem! She is a card-carrying member of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts (DOPE), and she was a guest speaker at the 2014 DOPE conference (information HERE). Honorable mentions for 2014 Names of the Year:
|
Above: Broadway star, Oscar-winning singer, and card-carrying member of DOPE, Adele Dazeem.
|
Above: Solange Knowles, Executive Director of the Beygency.
|
Above: Edward Snowden, on the run from
the Beygency (among other agencies). |
Above: Philea,
star robot of the European Space Agency. |
Above: Donald Sterling, banned from the National Basketball Agency.
|
Above: Olympic Gold Medalist Ted Ligety (we just like saying that he skis "Ligety-split"
|
December 9: |
Triple ChromeWhen California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, excitement built around the Belmont Stakes in the hopes that we would see the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. The public hoped that California Chrome would win so that the race would go down in the history books as the "Triple Chrome."
Alas, California Chrome didn't win, place or show -- and co-owner Steve Coburn voiced his frustration with the system that allows for horses to skip the first two major races so that they would be fresh for the one: "(California Chrome's) been in three big races. These other horses set one out and it's not fair for the horses who are in it form Day 1...If you've got a horse that earns points, that runs in the Kentucky Derby, those horses should be the only ones who should run in all three races." |
Above: California Chrome
(The only Triple Chrome in 2014: Chromebook, Chrome apps, and Google Chrome) |
December 10: |
Dumb Starbucks
I remember the first time I went to a Starbucks Coffee and ordered a small. The barista told me that that would be a "Tall." I thought to myself, "That's kind of dumb." The I learned that a medium and large were "Grande" and "Venti," and I thought, "That's kind of dumb." Then I paid close to $5.00 for a cup of coffee, and I thought, "Now that's very dumb!"
Finally, in 2014, someone agreed with me, and opened the first Dumb Starbucks Coffee. |
|
|
Alas, Dumb Starbucks is no longer with us. It closed just a few days after opening. Turns out that it was all part of some sketch comedy for a show on Comedy Central called "Nathan For You" -- and that's too bad! Not only did I like the concept. I also liked the location of the Dumb Starbucks Coffee -- beside the Coin-op Laundry Room. And you know that the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard) would support any business in or around a Laundromat!
|
December 11: |
SB 1062We suppose that "dumb" could also apply to the next word (an alpha-numeric abbreviation) on our list, SB 1062 (but we'll let you decide which definition(s) of "dumb" apply).
Last February, Arizona legislators passed a bill to give any individual or organization an exemption from any state law that substantially burdened their exercise of religion. Even after national outcry against the bill and its possible wide-ranging ramifications of discrimination, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer remained rather quiet about the bill as she pondered signing or vetoing it. |
|
|
The NFL was not so silent, though. They stated that they were "following the issue in Arizona and will continue to do so should the bill be signed into law", prompting concerns from Arizona business leaders that the signing of SB1062 would lead to a change in venue for Super Bowl XLIX -- somewhere far from Glendale, Arizona.
Brewer wasn't dumb for long. She finally spoke up and said that the bill has "the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve." She vetoed the bill on February 26th. |
December 12:
|
Selfie Olympics
"Selfie" was #9 in our Words of the Year for 2013, and it was the 2013 Word of the Year for the OED. The selfie trend continues to this day and perhaps reached its peak of ballyhoo when Ellen DeGeneres took a selfie with various front-row celebrities at the 2014 Academy Awards. New this year were the first annual "Selfie Olympics," a competition whereby individuals attempt to take the most original and outlandish selfies.
Below: Even celebrities got into the Selfie Olypics. Left to right: Kathy Griffin, Jimmy Fallon, and Pope Francis
To see more images, do a Google search for images with "Selfie Olympics," or check Twitter with the hashtag #SelfieOlympics
|
December 13: |
Cazzo
While giving a weekly address at the Vatican in March 2014, Pope Francis spoke in Italian and accidentally dropped the C-bomb, "cazzo" -- known in English as the "F-bomb."
The English translation of the Pope's Italian: "If each one of us does not amass riches only for oneself, but half for the service of others, in this f--- [pause], in this case, the providence of God will become visible through this gesture of solidarity." |
|
|
Hmmm. Seems he just got his tongue twisted around his eye tooth, and he couldn't see what he was saying!
The actual TOP 5 FAVORITE FOODS from Minnesota:
1. Hickory-smoked pulled-pork tacos with Asian slaw 2. Parmesan-crusted Cod fish balls 3. Skittle Pie (graham cracker crust with clear, unflavored gelatin filled with Skittles) 4. Indonesian ginger chicken strips with vinegar dip 5. Blackened deer jerky |
December 14: |
Fracking
Fracking (or hydraulic fracturing) is a drilling technique in which rock is fractured by a hydraulically pressured liquid. Fracking is often used in wells to increase the flow rates of shale gas and other gasses. However, opponents of fracking cite concerns of environmental side effects, including contamination of ground water, depletion of fresh water, the triggering of earthquakes and more.
In 2014, concerns over fracking have been raised from Pennsylvania to California, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific coast. It's enough to even cause the Pope to want to utter, "What the frack?" |
|
|
DIShonorable mention:
* Framily -- the friends and family discount plan for Sprint that spawned the worst ad campaign of the year. After 5 months, Sprint pulled the ads which featured the Frobinsons, a multi-racial family headed by a talking hamster. The campaign had even Sprint's CEO yelling "What the cazzo?" -- or maybe "What the frick?" Pictured at the right: The Frobinsons, the frickin' freaky framily of Sprint's now-defunct discount plan, are now frinished (i.e, fried and finished). |
|
December 15: |
Knee DefenderAs we all know, women can't control their libidos (see the entry above dated 12/5). On the other hand, men can't seem to control their "seat rage" when passengers in front of them on a plane recline their seats. Therefore, Ira Goldman invented the "knee defender," a device used to limit the extent in which an airline seat can be reclined.
One thing Goldman forgot, though, was that most men also suffer from Anti-Reclining Device Rage (ARDR), so the placement of knee defenders on airline seats in 2014 caused great uproar and upheaval on flights across the country. |
Above: The Knee Defender -- for needy knees.
|
|
Honorable Mention:
* Fence Jumper – the term for an unexpected visitor at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Interestingly enough, though, Tareq and Michaele Salahi proved in 2009 that one need not jump the fence to drop in unexpectedly at the White House. All you have to do is walk in the front door. Anyway, perhaps Ira Goldman can invent something that defends the White House from those who jump the fence. |
December 16: |
Conscious Uncoupling
After their cognizant amalgamation in December of 2003, Gwyneth Paltrow announced in 2014 that she and hubby Chris Martin agreed on a conscious uncoupling -- though both have stated that they will remain percipient acquaintances. Only time will tell if the two will decide upon a deliberate re-association.
|
|
|
To Couple or Not To Couple?
If you are a poet, a sonneteer, a bard, a balladeer, or a versifier -- and you're looking to couple consciously with another poet, be sure to watch for the inauguration of our match-making site for poets, Couplets.com. Information is HERE. |
December 17: |
#BringBackOurGirls2014 certainly had more than its fair share of outrage -- outrage around the world, and outrage throughout the entire year. In response to a particularly heinous act in Nigeria -- the kidnapping of teenage school girls by a heavily armed extremist Muslim group called Boko Haram -- Twitter activism reflected the outrage of the world with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
Despite the global/viral Twitter campaign that included high-profile figures such as Michelle Obama, most of the girls remain in captivity. The world's outrage has shifted to other atrocities. |
|
|
Honorable mentions:
* #CancelColbert-- In a satirical reference to the inauguration of the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation, Stephen Colbert tweeted, "I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever." Unaware of the Redskin's announcement, though, many in the Twittervers were outraged. As a result, a grassroots #CancelColbert campaign commenced -- and it worked! Comedy Central cancelled The Colbert Report (but only because Stephen Colbert was named as the successor for the retiring David Letterman over at CBS). |
|
|
|
* #FreeTheNipple -- Some have debated for years about whether or not women, like men, should be allowed to go topless in public. The debate took center stage when Bruce Willis' daughter Scout strolled topless through New York and spawnd the #FreeTheNipple campaign on Instagram. Instestingly, enough, later in the year others debated Instagram's inconsistencies with its restrictions when one of the Kardashians used the app to expose her outrageous derriere.
|
|
December 18: |
SochiYes, 2014 was chock full of outrage and outrageous events (see above). Outrageous weather. Outrageous terrorism. Outrageous comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategies. Outrageous breaches in security. Outrageous women and their outrageous libidos. Outrageous men and their outrageous seat rage.
For two weeks, though, the world came together in peace and harmony for the XXII Winter Olympiad in Sochi, Russia -- and everything went off without a hitch! |
Above: Everything went off without a hitch
in Sochi! |
December 19: |
Ukraine (formerly "The Ukraine")in 2014, I screamed, you screamed, we all screamed for Ukraine!
Following two weeks of peace and harmony brought on by the XXII Winter Olympiad in Sochi (see above), Russia returned the world to its normal state of outrage by refusing to recognize a new interim government in Ukraine and launching a covert invasion of the Crimean Peninsula. As a result, the world learned that Ukraine is not "the Ukraine," but just plain ol' "Ukraine" -- just like it's "United States," not "the United States." Pictured at the right: Following Russia's invasion of the Crimean Peninsula, Vladimir Putin's cover of Justin Timberlake hit "Crimea River" rose to the top of the charts. |
|
December 20: |
Umbrella Revolution
Protests now known as the "Umbrella Revolution" began in Hong Kong in the fall of 2014 against China's decision on reforms to Hong Kong's electoral system.
The Umbrella Revolution occupied the news headlines just as the Occupy movement had under a similar umbrella of news in 2011. For a while, news poured in, but the Revolution's reign in the top news stories began to dry up as other outrages around the world flooded in. |
|
December 21: |
BridgegateThe only person happy (for lack of a better word -- or maybe "relieved") to hear the news of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (from from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing) was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie because it shifted the 24-hour/day news coverage from Bridgegate to the search for debris in the Indian Ocean.
In retribution against Fort Lee's mayor for not endorsing Christie in the 2013 gubernatorial election, Christie staff members and political appointees collaborated to close lanes at the toll plaza of the GW Bridge leading into the Big Apple to create massive traffic jams. |
|
|
|
The 2014 Bridgegate coverage was very reminiscent of an earlier, similar scandal from Washerst, PA, in the late 1800s. America's greatest poet Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) wrote several poems about that scandal. For information about the events and to read Dickinson's poems, click HERE
|
|
Honorable Mention: * Fangate -- What politician wants the public to see him sweat? Certainly not former Governor Crist of Florida. In a debate with current Florida Governor Rick Scott, Crist placed a small fan at the base of his podium -- but Gov. Scott refused to take the stage to start the debate. |
|
|
|
|
December 22:
|
Boots on the Ground
As evidenced by many of our entries above, 2014 had more than its fair share of outrageous incidents, and the next entry on our list of Words of the Year -- from the command of comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategies to the control of infectious diseases and/or women's irrepressible libidos -- is the solution to most if not all of these atrocities: Boots on the Ground.
|
|
|
Yes, the solution to most of America's problems, from Afghanistan and Iraq to Ferguson and Times Squares, seems to be putting "boots on the ground." It that's doesn't work, there's always rectal rehydration.
|
|
Honorable Mention: * Rectal Rehydration -- the preferred practice of torture recommended by former Vice President Dick Cheney, and the favorite method of natural beauty enhancement endorsed by Kim Kardashian. * EITs -- "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" -- what Stephen Colbert is promising when he takes over for the retiring David Letterman in May 2015. |
|
December 23:
|
MH370 and MH17
The on-time performance ratings for arrivals and departures for Malaysia Airlines took a dive this year due to flights MH370 and MH17. Flight 370 vanished in March. Evidence suggests it went down somewhere in the Southern Indian Ocean, and theories abound about what "really happened."
In July, Flight 17 was shot down near the Ukraine-Russia border during a battle of the ongoing war in Donbass. Since this flight originated in Amsterdam, the Dutch Safety Board is investigating the incident, and their final report is expected in 2015. |
|
December 24:
|
#tbtTurns out that Colin Powell invented the selfie way back in nineteen-fifty-something, and he posted it online in 2014 with the inescapable hashtag #tbt ("throw-back Thursday"). The acronym has been around for awhile, and some say it originally stood for "truth be told," but 2014 was definitely the year of the "throwback" as everyone and his brother posted old photos of themselves using #tbt.
|
|
Below left to right: Celebrities posted a plethora of past pics with #tbt throughout 2014: Grumpy Cat (in pre-grumpy days), Jimmy Fallon, Jodie Foster, Rosie O'Donnell, and Stephen Colbert.
December 25:
|
BaeDo you know about "Columbusing"? Named for Christopher Columbus, it's when white people discover something that's already been around, and then claim it as their own. That's the case with the next word on our countdown, bae. There are well over 100 entries for "bae" on Urban Dictionary, and the great majority of them were posted in 2014 -- when white middle America discovered, or "Columbused," bae. However, entries for "bae" appear in Urban Dictionary as early as 2003.
|
|
|
Depending upon the UD entry, "bae" can either serve as an acronym for "before anyone else," or it can stand as a shortened form for "babe" -- which isn't surprising considering all the incarnations we have for "brother" ("bro," "bruh," "brah," etc.). To be honest, we won't be surprised at all if "vape" (the OED's 2014 Word of the Year) undergoes a similar morph, to "vae," so that in 2015 one can have a vae with his or her bae.
Honorable Mention: * Turnt -- a variation of "turned," as when one is "turnt up" for something in an excited way, and it's another example of Columbusing in 2014. |
December 26:
|
(Shaking your head "no")The next word on our countdown isn't a word itself, but a non-verbal communication for "no": when NPR's Scott Simon interviewed Bill Cosby and his wife about an art exhibit, he also asked about the allegations about past rapes:
SCOTT SIMON: "This question gives me no pleasure, Mr. Cosby, but there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days." BILL COSBY: [SILENCE] SIMON: "You're shaking your head no. I'm in the news business. I have to ask the question. Do you have any response to those charges?" |
|
|
COSBY: [SILENCE]
SIMON: "Shaking your head no. There are people who love you who might like to hear from you about this. I want to give you the chance." COSBY: [SILENCE] |
|
Bill Cosby, though, wasn't the only one shaking his head "no" in 2014. If 2013 was the year of the apology (see HERE), then 2014 was the year of denial. Just a few examples:
* NJ Governor Chris Christie denied any involvement with Bridgegate. * Donald Trump denied there was any sign of climate change (especially when a slipped polar vortex brought on record cold temperatures last winter). * Justin Bieber denied any involvement in drag racing and in throwing eggs at his neighbors house. * Former VA Governor Bob McDonnell denied any wrong doing when it came to accepting illegal gifts while in office. * With a full-page add in the New York Times, Woody Allen denied past allegations of Mia Farrow about child molestation. * The Supreme Court denied that racism still existed in America. * Donald Sterling denied he was a racist after his girlfriend released tapes of him making racist comments. * Mama June, Honey Boo Boo's mother, denied she was dating a child molester. * Dick Cheney denied he was a torturer. * The North Koreans denied any part with hacking Sony email accounts. * The US denied any part with shutting off the Internet for 9+ hours after Sony accounts were hacked. |
December 27:
|
Polar Vortex
Last April we visited Chicago, and for most of the week, the temperature hovered around a cold 32-degrees Fahrenheit. We complained a bit -- until some Chicagoans reminded us that they had endured winter temperatures 60-degrees colder (as low as 30-degrees below zero), thanks to a slipped Polar Vortex!
Yes, the Polar Vortex -- yet another weather phenomenon we had never heard of (see the entry above dated December 4th). |
|
|
Honorable Mention:
* Snowvember -- A month before the start of winter when most of the US experienced frigid temperatures and record snowfalls, proving once again that those who live in Buffalo, NY, are, in fact, "God's frozen people." |
|
December 28:
|
Ice BucketIn the summer of 2014 well over 1 million people created their own polar vortexes (vortices?) with the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
According to The New York Times, people uploaded more than a million videos on Facebook between June 1st and August 13th. Also, the challenge was mentioned more than 2 million times on Twitter between late-July and mid-August. Yahoo.com reported the ice bucket challenge as the #1 obsession of 2014. |
|
|
If you were one of the many who took part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, then you can cross that off your bucket list of things to accomplish!
|
December 29:
|
EbolaThe world’s most widespread epidemic of Ebola occurred throughout 2014 is still ongoing in some West African countries. While just two people have died from Ebola in the United States, the death toll world-wide is approaching 8,000. Alas, this is certainly a case where we do NOT want something "going viral." |
|
|
Honorable Mentions:
* Enterovirus -- From mid-August to December 18, 2014, the CDC or state public health laboratories have confirmed a total of 1,152 people in 49 states and the District of Columbia with respiratory illness caused by Enterovirus D68, and at least a dozen children have died from the disease this past year. * ETUs -- Emergency Treatment Units built in West Africa in response to the Ebola outbreak. * Bentley -- The name of Ebola patient/nurse Nina Pham's dog, quarantined for a 21-day period by Dallas Animal Services. |
|
|
Pictured left to right: Demographics of the Ebola outbreak; Activity of the Enterovirus D68 illness; Bentley, Nina Pham's dog, in quarantine. (Click images to enlarge.) |
|
|
|
December 30:
|
Hacked2014, the year of the data breach, started as 2013 slipped into the past and hacktivists attacked Target shoppers' accounts. That breach was soon followed with attacks on Michael's, Home Depot, Snapchat, Skype and Yahoo. Later in the year, Apple was hacked, and private photographs from celebrities' iPhones were released to the public.
As we neared the end of 2014, cybercriminals hacked into Sony's computer systems and released revealing confidential emails about company salaries, celebrities, and secrets. Dubbed the Guardians of Peace, the hackers demanded the cancellation of the release of The Interview, a film starring Seth Rogen which depicts the assassination of Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The hackers promised a "Christmas Surprise" (along the lines of the 9/11 attacks) if Sony released the movie. U.S. officials have suggested that North Korea was "centrally involved" in the cyber-attack. Whoever was behind the attack, we at the ELD Museum wonder why no fuss was made about Seth Rogen's earlier raunch-com Neighbors. It was terrible. The Guardians of Peace should have demanded that that film not be released! If North Korea was behind the Sony attack, though, it does prove one thing -- that Kim Jong-us is getting just a little too big for his breaches! |
|
Pictured at the right: Kim Jong-un was spotted on December 25th at a midnight showing of a 3D director's cut of The Interview in Theater 2 of Regal Theater's Midtown Pyongyang Megaplex 3 (Theater 1 was showing Order No. 27, and Theater 2 was showing Always Working Together for the People). Jong-un scored the movie 63% on RottenTomatoes.com, 11% higher than the site's total score from the American audience. |
|
December 31:
|
(No) Indictment*No words had a bigger impact on the year than "no indictment." For weeks, government officials and news pundits prepared the public for an announcement that Officer Darren Wilson who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, might not be indicted. When the Grand Jury announcement came late on Monday, November 24th, that there had been no indictment, it sparked protests across the country. Later, the protests exploded when an announcement came that there would be no indictment against a police officer in New York City who as involved in the choke-hold death of Eric Garner.
|
|
|
On November 24, the day of Ferguson's Grand Jury announcement, Cleveland officials announced that a grand jury would hear the case involving the death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old killed in a police shooting. Time will tell the impact that "no indictment" may or may not have in the year 2015.
Reactions to the word "no indictment" in protests across the nation also gave ironic meaning to the phrase "Season's Greetings" (see the picture above at the right) and introduced many other phrases into our national lexicon: Honorable Mentions: * Hands up. Don't Shoot. * Brown Friday: Hands up. Don't shop. * I can't breathe! * #BlackLivesMatter * Ferguson * #CrimingWhileWhite * #AliveWhileBlack * Die-in *Our original "Word of the Year" was "acquitted," but @byagoda alerted us via Twitter that neither officer was "acquitted"; rather, they were not indicted. We at the ELD Museum are not great legal minds, so we thank him, and we have updated our list. Mr. Yagoda, the author of The B Side, will receive a complimentary one-year pass to the museum and life-long membership to the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts. We have also offered him the position as Chief Global Tactics Analyst in our legal department. |
|
Honorable Mentions -- other words of note from 2014:
* Apple Pay & Google Wallet -- the future of money. * Bass -- because in 2014, that's what it was all about. * Coffeenym (also "coffeenom" or "javanym") -- the name you give the barista to identify the cup of coffee ordered. * Cyberweek -- some companies' effeorts to expand CyberMonday. * Executive Amnesty -- President Obama's actions concerning immigration policy. * Inflation (from the field of Science) -- evidence of the initial seconds of the Bing Bang. * Mrs. Clooney -- not George Clooney's mother. * Second Screen Experience -- hyped for NBC's coverage of the Olympics. * Selfie Stick -- a mono-pod for the iPhone to help facilitate taking selfies. * Serial -- a spin-off of This American Life, the most-downloaded podcast in the world (according to Apple). * Shellacking -- President Obama's explanation of the November 2014 elections. * Singles Day -- haven't heard of this? You will. * Text Neck -- poor posture used to read iPhones and iPads. * Thanksgetting -- formerly known as Thanksgiving. |
|
Pictured below and at the right: Other Words of the Year 2014 and a recap of our Words of the Year.
|
|
Want to see the 2013 Words of the Year? Click HERE. Are you following us on Twitter? @The_Dickinson
