'Tergiversate' is the word of the year 2011 according to Dictionary.com
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| | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 06:31
Spanish to English
+ ...
| A non starter | Dec 1, 2011 |
It just sounds like Spanglish to me ("tergiversar" is quite a common Spanish word).
Quite how a vocabulary item "not in common usage" (if not downright recondite) can be voted "word of the year" is a mystery to me. It would be interesting to know the team's criteria.
| | | | Ty Kendall 
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:31
Hebrew to English
| Agree-Ridiculous | Dec 1, 2011 |
One word, used once by one person (company) for one specific context, which 99.99% of the population has never heard of, never used and wouldn't understand. Hardly word of the year - although it's a nice word, it would be nice if it gained currency - only then should it really be considered "word of the year". Mind you, the other choice "zugzwang"....eeek. Best out of a bad bunch perhaps?
Also I'm not keen on borrowing German words (zugzwang) when there's a plethora of available Engli... See more One word, used once by one person (company) for one specific context, which 99.99% of the population has never heard of, never used and wouldn't understand. Hardly word of the year - although it's a nice word, it would be nice if it gained currency - only then should it really be considered "word of the year". Mind you, the other choice "zugzwang"....eeek. Best out of a bad bunch perhaps?
Also I'm not keen on borrowing German words (zugzwang) when there's a plethora of available English options (which are often more expressive) - Catch 22, no-win situation, lose-lose situation and more... I think the kind of people doing this unnecessary borrowing are just trying to sound more intelligent than they really are - or lack the intelligence or will to search their own lexicon. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Not to offend the FB crowd but... | Dec 2, 2011 |
From the Dictionary.com Web site:
There are essentially two ways to pick a “word of the year.” One common approach is to select from words whose common usage reflects some quality of the year past. Expect to see “occupy,” “winning,” etc., on many selections this December. Another way involves actually using the dictionary. Is there a word that captures the character of 2011, regardless of its popularity or ubiquity?
In late October, we asked our Facebook fans which method of selection they preferred...
I stopped reading right there...the biggest tergiversaters are certainly from that crowd...
(Now, all you slings and arrows, commence firing!)
[Edited at 2011-12-02 08:17 GMT]
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 06:31
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Clunker of the year | Dec 2, 2011 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
... I think the kind of people doing this unnecessary borrowing are just trying to sound more intelligent than they really are - or lack the intelligence or will to search their own lexicon.
Me too, but didn't want to raise any hackles unduly. The choice of "tergiversate" is summed up for me by the lovely Spanish word "rebuscadisima" (extremely contrived). And as for "zugzwang", I looked it up yesterday and I've already forgotten what it meant. It sounds like a deviant act committted on a train...
Then again, I'd be pushed to come up with a suggestion for a word of the year of my own. I may come back to this later if anything amusing springs to mind.
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:31
Hebrew to English
I studied German for years so I can appreciate the "beauty" of "zugzwang" - as a GERMAN word....but I just object to such unneccesary and superficial borrowing. Like I said, there's some really nice phrases in English which describe the same scenario.
Doesn't Susie Dent usually do a (more sensible) "Words of the Year"?
...According to Oxford dictionaries, the 2011 word of... See more I studied German for years so I can appreciate the "beauty" of "zugzwang" - as a GERMAN word....but I just object to such unneccesary and superficial borrowing. Like I said, there's some really nice phrases in English which describe the same scenario.
Doesn't Susie Dent usually do a (more sensible) "Words of the Year"?
...According to Oxford dictionaries, the 2011 word of the year is "squeezed middle":
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/11/squeezed-middle/ ▲ Collapse
| | | | Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 00:31
Romanian to English
+ ...
same spelling, is a very common Romanian word and it means ”delayed”.
[Edited at 2011-12-03 18:24 GMT]
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