'Subprime' plutoed many words in 2007
|
|
|
New York, Jan 6 - Used to describe a risky loan, 'subprime' has been chosen as the Word of the Year 2007 by US linguists.What went in favour of the word is that it burst out of the banking sector as the home loan crisis in the US turned into a global credit squeeze.Word of the Year 2006 was 'plutoed', which means to be demoted or devalued.The American Dialect Society favoured 'subprime' over 'facebook', 'water-boarding' and 'Googleganger' at its annual convention Friday in Chicago.'Subprime' means literally 'less than ideal' and the adjective is a technical term used to describe loans - especially mortgages - made to borrowers with poor credit histories.Among the runners up, 'water-boarding' is a form of interrogation involving simulated drowning.'Facebook' as a noun, verb or adjective was popular with younger linguists.The society gave its 'most creative word' award to 'Googleganger' - meaning a person thrown up by a Google search on your name, but who is not you.The society says it just charts words or phrases that have become prominent in a particular year, and is not telling people how to speak. (c) Indo-Asian News Service
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related News
Poland want to cut budget deficit by reducing pension payments
Warsaw - Poland wants to reduce its deficit by reducing payments to private pension funds while keeping that money in the state's social insurance company ZUS, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. Under the proposal, private pension funds would recei...
IMF unfreezes standby loan after Serbia promises spending cuts
Belgrade - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will unfreeze funds from a 4-billion-dollar standby loan to Serbia, which in return must curb spending and reform its social care system, officials said Wednesday in Belgrade. The head of the IMF missi...
IMF recommends Iceland keep currency controls
Reykjavik - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended Iceland maintain currency controls for the time being in order to ensure a stable currency, according to a report released Tuesday. The Icelandic central bank published the 98-page rep...
Hong Kong's best-known war reporter fights for her life savings
Hong Kong - The family of Hong Kong's most celebrated war correspondent Clare Hollingworth said Sunday they were taking bankruptcy proceedings against a public relations consultant who withdrew 200,00 US dollars of her savings. Legal papers were serv...
Norwegian central bank raises rate to 1.50 per cent
Oslo - Norway's central bank on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.50 per cent, citing slightly higher inflation and signs of economic recovery. Unemployment is considerably lower than previously projected. T...
Liechtenstein reworks tax information sharing with Belgium, Antigua
Vaduz - The principality of Liechtenstein announced Monday that it had negotiated agreements on sharing tax information with Belgium and Antigua and Barbuda, part of an ongoing effort to meet openness standards demanded by other nations. Once signed,...
Estonia may need deeper budget cuts to adopt euro, says IMF
Tallinn - The Baltic state of Estonia may need to make deeper-than-planned cuts to its public spending if it is to qualify for euro adoption in 2011, a representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday. Speaking at the conclusion of...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
