The Good Word

A year ends, a new year begins – and Humankind immediately draws up lists... of resolutions made and broken, of dreams achieved (along with those secret fears that accompany accomplishments), of winners and losers ...

My master not only ‘unfriend’ me but also 'defood' me!

Accordingly, the New Oxford Dictionary – others say it’s the rather pointedly named New Oxford American Dictionary – announced that the word for 2009 is “Unfriend”, which apparently is the word that they heard, it’s got groove, it’s got meaning...

You don’t dump someone; you merely ‘Unfriend’ him.

‘Unfriend’ is very popular on social networking sites. (The word ‘Irony’ just got heavier.)

Of course, you might wonder about a year in which a word that stands for breaking up, rifts-in-the-lute, and general rupturing, gets chosen as the ‘best’ one yet.

Carpers, who always appear in droves at such moments, feel it ought to be ‘De-friend’… as in ‘delete’…wipe out.

Avoiding lexicographical quicksand, you go with the ‘Un...’ prefix.

What next?

Can you Unspeak after shooting your mouth off? Ungo someplace you hate, or Unvisit a nasty relative?

A little too...er...'lexeme', all of this?

Expert lexicologists have described the winner word ‘Unfriend’ as having major ‘lex-appeal’.

Well – if you’ve got it, flaunt it.