Mark's Notebook


	Only a mediocre person is always at his best. - W. Somerset Maugham

Readers 'state' our Word of the Year

San Francisco Chronicle

Thursday 30 December 2004, 10:55 am
Keywords: News Articles

Vlae Kershner, SF Gate news director

"Red state/blue state" is the Word of the Year.

The paired terms identify states that vote Republican (red) or Democrat, according to the colors used on television electoral maps. This year, their meanings were extended to differentiate states by cultural factors as well.

"Red state/blue state" got 41 percent of the vote among the more than 2,800 people who responded to our poll by yesterday.

"Wardrobe malfunction," finished second, followed by "blog," "insurgents" and "iPod."

This is the fourth year for the contest, in which readers nominate and vote on the choices. Prior winners were "9-11" in 2001, "nukular" in 2002 and "metrosexual" in 2003.

Red state/blue state -- This matched set from TV election-night maps became the shorthand way of expressing the country's deep political and cultural divisions.

Wardrobe malfunction -- This excuse, offered by Justin Timberlake for his and Janet Jackson's Super strip-tease act, became shorthand for a year of debate over what's fit for the airwaves, which led to the planned departure of Howard Stern for satellite radio.

Blog -- This word has been around for awhile, but what could be more 2004 than the term for a web journal. Just ask Dan Rather.

Insurgents -- Terrorists? Rebels? Loyalists? Nope, the media-certified word for the other side in Iraq is about the blandest term possible.

iPod -- Five years after Napster, the future of downloadable music finally became clear with the success of the Apple music player.

A few other words received multiple nominations, including "low-carb," "girlie-men," "BALCO," and, with several spellings, "duuuuude."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2004/12/30/word30.DTL