American Dialect Society: Word of the Year

 

The American Dialect Society has chosen "bailout" as its word of the year for 2008.

 

In the specific sense used most frequently in 2008, bailout refers to rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure,
including large players in the banking industry.

 

One word that was in the running was  "Palinesque", defined by the American Dialect Society as "pertaining to a person who has extended themselves beyond their expertise, thereby bringing ridicule upon a serious matter".