Words That Made 2010

Lexicographer Grant Barrett has compiled a list of the words that made the year. A few are:

belieber: A fan of Justin Bieber, the Canadian pop singer who also spawned …

the Justin Bieber: A haircut also known as the flip and switch, the flow, or the twitch. Now driving parents crazy everywhere.

G.T.L.: For “gym, tan, laundry,” the life philosophy of the Situation, otherwise known as Mike Sorrentino of the reality TV program “Jersey Shore.” You laugh, but it’s worked for him

coffice: In South Korea, a coffee shop habitually used as an office by customers, who mooch its space, electricity, Wi-Fi and other resources. Presumably, they pay for the coffee.

halfalogue: Half of a conversation, like an overheard phone call. The term was coined in the research paper “Overheard Cell-Phone Conversations: When Less Speech is More Distracting” in the journal Psychological Science.

social graph: The structure of personal networks, who people know and how they know them, especially online. The term probably came from the internal lingo at Facebook, but it has spread widely among technology companies.

demon sheep: The political ad that captured critics everywhere for being “baaad,” as The Wall Street Journal put it. The Senate campaign of Carly Fiorina used and retired the ad, but other campaigns quickly created their own parodies.

mama grizzly: Coined by Sarah Palin, “mama grizzly” is the conservative woman’s battle cry, referring to mothers who ferociously defend their children or policies that benefit them. Often used with humor. In her new book, Ms. Palin wrote that it’s “bear propaganda” to insist that these bears are cute and cuddly.

refudiate: Another Palinism, this time a blend of refute and repudiate. Now used with an eyebrow raised.

shellacking: President Obama’s preferred way to describe what happened to Democrats in the midterm elections. Some might call it a knock-down punch.

porno scanner: A full-body security scanner that provoked outrage at airports and on blogs. Also called strip-search scanners and, more politely, by the Transportation Security Administration, advanced imaging technology.

enhanced pat-down: Frisking in which security workers slide the palms of their hands down a person’s body in a search for contraband or weapons.

double-dip recession: What economists talked about, and what every Obama administration official feared.

double rainbow: A phrase from the hugely popular YouTube video by Paul Vasquez, featuring his breathless amazement at the sight of two rainbows at Yosemite National Park. It spawned parodies, television commercials, dance mixes, Auto-Tune versions, parties and Halloween costumes, and is now used to refer — ironically and not — to something amazing.

G.Z.M.: An acronym for ground zero mosque — the shorthand term for a controversial Muslim community center proposed near the site where the World Trade Center was attacked.

Perhaps you have a few of your own.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.