Words of the year: Collins vs. OED

diccionario_265529Collins Dictionary has selected a word or phrase for each month of the year, to define trends and events of 2012. The words were submitted by members of the public on the Collins website.

January – broga – a blend of “bro” and “yoga” and referring to a new form of yoga aimed at men.

February – legbomb – referring to this photo of Angelina Jolie at the Oscars this month.

March – Eurogeddon – referring to Europe’s economic crisis

April – mummy porn – the month when Fifty Shades of Grey was launched

May – Zuckered for the month when social network Facebook made its stock market debut, and share prices immediately went down

June – Jubilympics – I think this one is pretty self explanatory!

July – Romneyshambles – a nice play on omnishambles, the media coined this phrase during this month US presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited the UK.

August – Games makers – the thousands of volunteers who helped make the London 2012  Olympics run smoothly

September – 47 per cent – a key phrase of the US election, after Mitt Romney claimed that 47% of the US would vote for Obama as they “pay no income tax” and are “dependent on the Government”

October – Superstorm – when Hurricane Sandy caused much damage to the East Coast of the US, Canada, and the Caribbean

November – Gangnam Style – the month that Psy’s video hit 1 billion views on YouTube

December – Fiscal cliff – a cut in US spending and rise in taxes which could see the country plunge into another recession

Not all of these will make it to the updated published edition of the dictionary.

I’m afraid a lot of these phrases passed me by – even after paying particular attention to the news this year!

Meanwhile, the Oxford English Dictionary has published its’ own word of the year, which was “omnishambles.” Six other words made the shortlist, only 3 of which featured on the Collins Dictionary list. These were games maker, mummy porn and Eurogeddon. The remaining three words which didn’t make the cut were mobot, second screening and pleb.

If you could choose, which word would sum up 2012 for you?