It was a close run thing with the Big Society and vuvuzela, but, ultimately, the Mayor of London hasn’t won this year’s Oxford English Dictionary ‘word of the year’ contest.
Each year, lexicographers at Oxford University Press choose a word (or short phrase) which best represents ‘the dominant tone and issues of the last 12 months.’ Previous winners of the award include ‘bovvered’, ‘credit crunch’ and ‘footprint’ whilst last year saw a tie between ‘staycation’, ‘tweetup’, ‘simples’ and ‘jegging’.
This year was a fiercely fought contest between three terms. Alongside the ‘Big Society’ – David Cameron’s election pledge – were ‘vuvuzela’ and ‘Boris bike’, the nickname given to the Mayor’s London Cycle Hire scheme.
Sadly, ‘Boris bike’ was ultimately beaten by the Big Society, named as the Word of 2010.
Still, there’s always next year, eh, Bozza? Perhaps the Word of 2011 will be ‘social cleansing’, or even ‘Bozlympics’….
Eh? Oh.