"Plutoed" Chosen 2006 Word of the Year by American Dialect Society
January 07, 2007                       13:22

ANAHEIM, Calif. --  Pluto is finally getting some respect _ not from
astronomers, but from wordsmiths.

"Plutoed" was chosen 2006's Word of the Year by the American Dialect
Society at its annual meeting Friday.

To "pluto" is "to demote or devalue someone or something," much like
what happened to the former planet last year when the General Assembly
of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto didn't meet its
definition of a planet.

"Our members believe the great emotional reaction of the public to the
demotion of Pluto shows the importance of Pluto as a name," said
society president Cleveland Evans. "We may no longer believe in the
Roman god Pluto, but we still have a sense of personal connection with
the former planet."

"Plutoed" won in a runoff against "climate canary," defined as "an
organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a
larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon."

Other words considered: murse (man's purse), flog (a fake blog that
promotes products) and macaca (an American citizen treated as an
alien).

Republican former Sen. George Allen was ahead in his re-election
campaign when he used "macaca," which some regard as a racial slur, to
refer to a son of Indian immigrants who was a volunteer for his
opponent. Allen lost to Democrat Jim Webb.

The 117-year-old American Dialect Society comprises linguists,
grammarians, historians and independent scholars, among others. Members
conduct the vote for fun and not in an official capacity to induct
words into the English language.

The society chose "truthiness" as its top word last year. The word is
credited to Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert, who defined it as
"truth that comes from the gut, not books."

Last month, an online survey by dictionary publisher Merrian-Webster
declared "truthiness" the word of the year for 2006.

... My favorite mythical creature?   The honest politician.