American Dialect Society picked 'tweet' and 'google' word of 2009 and Decade

Members of the American dialect society have voted and chosen two words. One will be the word of 2009 and the other the word of the decade. The results: 'tweet' word of 2009 and 'google' is the word of the decade. 


Tweet used as a noun is a short message sent via the social networking service Twitter.com. Tweet used as a verb is the act of sending such a message. Google used as a verb means the act of searching the Internet and derives from "Google," the U.S. corporation specializing in Internet search.


"It's hard to imagine life before we were Googling," American Dialect Society executive councilmember Ben Zimmer tellsCBSNews.com.

In the end, "Google" beat out five formidable finalists for Word of the Decade: "9/11," "green," "blog," "text" and "war on terror." (The ADS deemed "tweet" top word for 2009.)

Zimmer notes that way back in 2002 (when "weapons of mass destruction" was crowned Word of the Year), "Google" was voted most useful and "blog" most likely to succeed. 


There's no smaller time capsule than a single word. In 2000, the American Dialect Society picked "web" to represent the 1990s, "jazz" for the 20th century and "she" for the millennium. Ten letters can evoke an entire epoch

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