Merriam-Webster and Oxford University Press Announce Their Respective Words of the Year

I consider myself an armchair linguist, but I always feel a bit left out (and a bit old) when the "word of the year" announcements come out. As often happens on these occasions, this is the first time I have ever heard or seen many of these words. I do my best, however, to embrace the newcomers. Like the good erudite linguophile I endeavor to be, I try to incorporate the new words into casual conversation. Fortunately, I have a dinner party to attend this weekend where I may have occasion to utter, "Although I do my best to be a locavore, the farmer's markets are nothing to say w00t about this time of year."

I expect blank stares and the sound of chirping crickets to follow.

For the uninitiated, "locavore" has been declared Oxford Word of the Year as announced on the Oxford University Press blog. It refers to people who prefer eating locally-grown and raised foods, primarily for the purpose of reducing the environmental pollutants that result from transporting food long distances. I'm not sure where this word originated, but a website devoted to this philosophy is based in the San Francisco Bay area. Makes sense.

"W00t", according to Merriam-Webster online is, expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word "yay". W00t's origins are from the gaming expression, "we owned the other team" and is part of a linguistic system known as "l33t", pronounced "elite".

I wish I could say "w00t" for "w00t", but, no, I can't.

I can accept "locavore". I understand "locavore". I'm not crazy about it, though. A portmanteau of "local" and the Latinate root "-vore" meaning "to swallow up" (as found in words like "carnivore" and "omnivore"), to me, the word suggests cannibalism as in, "I am a locavore. I enjoy eating the locals."

"W00t", on the other hand, just plain annoys me. Sadly, those zeros aren't a typo. It really is spelled that way, hence the source of my irritation. I just cannot get cozy with alphanumeric words like those you find on an enigmatic vanity plate. I can see the owner of that other car thinks something is "GR8", but what?

Although I am not thrilled about this year's word of the year selections, I don't mind them as much as Merriam-Webster's choice for last year, "truthiness". I will keep my opinion to myself regarding what I think about the people who are involved in these selections. After all, I would not want to start a blamestorm. That would be Pecksniffian of me.