PLUTO may no longer be a planet, but it has a new claim to fame: "Plutoed" has been chosen 2006 Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society (ADS).
The 117-year-old society selected the word at their annual conference in Anaheim, California, last week. "Plutoed" won in a run-off against "climate canary", which is defined as "an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon." The ADS said that to pluto is to demote or devalue someone or something. That's what happened to the former planet Pluto when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto no longer met its definition of a planet.
Actually，Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as "vocabulary item" not just a word but a phrase. The words or phrases do not have to be brand new, but they have to be newly prominent or notable in the past year.
"Our members believe the great emotional reaction of the public to the demotion of Pluto shows the importance of Pluto as a name," said ADS's 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."
The ADS has been choosing Words of the Year since 1990. The society is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America. It includes linguists, grammarians, writers, and others.
Other words in the running for Word of the Year
prohibited liquids: fluids that cannot be transported by passengers on airplanes
macaca: an American citizen treated as an alien
YouTube: a popular web site that lets users upload, view, and share video clips
flog: a blog created by a corporation to promote a product or a television show
surge: a large, but brief, increase in troop strength
