Word of the Year 2007

175 Responses

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  • Barnabyb,

    My nomination for best word is 'broconomy'
    (it sounds better than it looks).

    Its the vast economy of favours, discounts, cash jobs, free work etc that comes from people without much surplus cash, or those that deal with people without much surplus cash. ie, creative industries, and/or lower income demographics.

    It especially concerns communities where relationships are stable over reasonable periods, so that favours can be paid and repaid in the future. Its sort of an acknowledgment of community economics.

    Melbourne • Since Nov 2007 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Andrew Smith,

    My 2 bits worth...the word "Sustainability".

    Since Jan 2007 • 150 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Andrew,

    I we need two categories - One for the word that really hits the zeitgeist of the year 2007; and one for the word wore out its welcome in the past year.

    For category one I second the nomination for Urewera, in category B, I think terrorist has been done to death.

    Hamiltron - City of the F… • Since Nov 2006 • 900 posts Report Reply

  • WH,

    I didn't understand the "re" in "reconditioning", why not just call it something masculine and deceptively simple like "training". "Reconditioning"
    is an ugly word to look at, is needlessly hard to say and would seem to be an injury-prone-making sort of process when applied to top athletes.

    I also think it is weird that "Yoplait" is not French for yoghurt.

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report Reply

  • WH,

    "Wayne Barnes" would be my nomination. Not to be confused with John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or anyone with more than one eye.

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report Reply

  • AndrewD,

    How bout "versing"

    It's been around a little while. It's how the kids talk about who they're playing in a competitive event. eg "AGS is versing St Pauls in football"

    I only suggest it as I was horrified to be asked by a 40 something recently who my son's cricket team is "versing" this weekend.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 54 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    WH, perhaps I'm misunderstanding the usage of reconditioning here but it's "re" because you are returning it to it's original condition(ing). It's one of those lovely words that could be good or bad depending on the original condition referred to. A reconditioned engine is usually better than a worn out one. But if I recondition my son's physical abilities, he'll be reduced to lying down, waving his arms and crying. Which sounds more like the usage Richard was hinting at.

    My entry for most hated phrase is "World Class". As for capturing 2007? "Fizzer". It's a summary of the amazing strides from LLU, our shocking terrorist plot, our sporting performances, and our principled stand on harmless substances.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • uroskin,

    Y'all be most welcome to our little island of Waiheke. Please bear in mind that the locals do not take kindly to being invaded. Do as the islanders do: conserve water, use your car sparingly (walking is healthy, or if you feel like tackling our hills, bring your bike), do your shopping at odd hours (the supermarket queues do get quite long and testy), leave your big city attitudes in New Zealand, listen to Beach FM (99.4FM) and take all your clothes off on Palm Beach.

    Waiheke Island • Since Feb 2007 • 178 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    What's the Waiheke take on spending NZD? I want to convert mine to Waiheke Green Dollars but don't know the rate.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Surprisingly resistant to inflation! But I hear that it doesn't last long, freshly minted currency only seems to last about a month.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Lyndon Hood,

    freshly minted currency

    Minted?

    I have a whole bunch of mint in my back garden if you're buying.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Llewellyn,

    Minted?

    That reminds me, around our way 'Munter' and 'Cheryl' are pretty good candidates for words of the year (depending on which couch you are sitting on).

    Mt Albert • Since Nov 2006 • 399 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I have a whole bunch of mint in my back garden if you're buying.

    I've also got a lot of mint in my garden, it grows like a weed. If only weed grew like a mint.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    I didn't understand the "re" in "reconditioning", why not just call it something masculine and deceptively simple like "training". "Reconditioning"
    is an ugly word to look at, is needlessly hard to say and would seem to be an injury-prone-making sort of process when applied to top athletes.

    I don't find the phrase at all useful. Re- implies that they used to be conditioned, no longer are, and need to be reconditioned. I don't spend a lot of time checking out All Black fitness levels and physiques in the off-season (or indeed, the on-season), but I'm not sure the 're' is at all accurate.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    My vote would be for any word that has ista on the end - there are exceptions to this, Wellingtonista for one, because I like that word. Every other word with that suffix is just a bore.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Neil Morrison,

    I vote Tuhoe coz it covers lotsa bases and has lotsa ramifications.

    Since Nov 2006 • 932 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    What about "going forward', which business/management twits seems to use constantly? Don't know whether it has any variations ("going backwards"? "going sideways"??) but it is stunningly empty phrase..

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    The Beltway...yet another expression we've adopted here for no real reason. Surely Stuff could have come up with something more original for a political blog. Admittedly they could have sunk lower, and called it No. 10 The Beltway Bloggate

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    Put me down for Te Qaeda

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Stupidiocracy. Noun.
    A political system run for the stupid by an Idiot for the benefit of the few.
    Apologies to the American Constitution.

    And how about;
    rareconditioning, Verb/trans.
    Something you have done to make you seem cooler than you were before.
    or; TARDIS; my girlfriends handbag ;-)

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    When I stopped trying to be clever and think of the word that summed up the last year for me, the answer was actually obvious:

    underwhelming.

    It describes everything: the Rugby World Cup, anything involving the Black Caps or Michael Campbell, the real effect of repealing s59, the actual content of Californication, David Beckham... All year, I've just been repeatedly underwhelmed.

    Impressed by Coskriedictory, though. We'd been using neo-contradictory. And Neo-con-scripted for the Republican debates.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    I am so over rugby, so I say to hell with reconditioning, conditioning, or any variant thereof, or in fact anything to do with the wretched game.

    "Underwhelming" (Emma's suggestion) - now there's a good word for the year.

    Two further suggestions:

    "**Common sense**" - as in the way the Electoral Commission et al will apply the electoral law. The same sort of "common sense" the police have shown in Ruatoki, I suppose.

    "**Vindication**" - for Louise Nicholas.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    underwhelming.

    I allways imagined the effect of Prozac to be totally "Whelming"
    You could use it in conversation or in a greeting;
    "How are you?'
    "I am whelm, thank you"
    Which would, in fact, mean you were crushed by a weight,
    But as a descriptive word to sum up the entire year I think only the right wingniks could own such a word. If however you were looking for a colective noun for a leader of the National Party I think English DonKey springs to mind but you weren't, were you?

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • paul delf,

    Hmmm...

    My vote is 'Love-Truncheon'.

    Seems to work in context with chicks involved in cop leisure time pursuits, as well as for residents of Opotiki.

    Since Dec 2007 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    I like 'Urewera' - it means burnt bollocks, btw, which could prove useful metaphorically.

    And in defence, or at least explanation, of Stuff using 'Beltway' - it's kind of a joke which got out of hand. It's an imported word, yeah, but it kind of took off last year when the PM used it to describe the Phillip Field story as a 'beltway issue' that only a few journos and political obsessives were interested in.

    The DomPost journos retaliated by putting 'The Beltway' on their door in the gallery. And when they were hunting names for a blog this year, it kind of naturally followed on.

    I don't have any words to nominate myself for this year but I'm picking 'dividend' for 2008, to describe tax cuts.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

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