Word of the year

The American Dialect Society chose "Subprime" as the word of the year last Friday. The word has been around in the banking business for a long time, but last year was probably the first time the man in the street heard about subprime. All due to the deepening mortgage crisis in the US.

About 80 members of the organization spent two days debating the merits of runners-up "Facebook," "green," "Googleganger" and "waterboarding" before voting for an adjective that means "a risky or less than ideal loan, mortgage or investment."

Personally my favourite is Googleganger which is person who shows up with your name when you Google yourself. Just like a doppelganger.