These two bizarre expressions from the internet age were yesterday shortlisted as Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year. For those not in the know, a ‘tweep’ is someone who either uses or follows someone else on the social networking site Twitter. And ‘woot’ is an expression of elation used on internet message boards and forums。
Yesterday’s winner was somewhat better known, however, with David Cameron’s ‘big society’ phrase emerging triumphant. The term, which attracted criticism during the election for being ambiguous, is defined as: ‘A political concept whereby a significant amount of responsibility for the running of a society’s services is devolved to local communities and volunteers.’
Susie Dent, of Oxford Dictionaries, said: ‘Big society was for us a clear winner because it embraces so much of the year’s political and economic mood. Taken to mean many things, it has begun to take on a life of its own – a sure sign of linguistic success.’