‘Change’ and ‘Bailout’: strange bedfellows indeed

This is my weekly column from the Sunday, Jan. 4, 2008 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune.

‘Change’ and ‘Bailout’: strange bedfellows indeed
By Aaron J. Brown

Change.

According to the Global Language Monitor, “change” was the top word of 2008. That’s no great surprise. It’s been a fascinating year. Our current president, the son of a former president and the grandson of a late senator, will soon be replaced by the previously unknown son of a Kenyan grad student and Kansas peace worker. That’s change.

But the second most important word in 2008 was “bailout.” That’s less change than the sign of a year gone into the pooper. So which is it? Was it a year of impressive milestones, or a year of decline? The answer, as is so often the case, remains subject to which website you choose to read.

I usually rely on the Global Language Monitor (www.languagemonitor.com) for their annual list of top words. This year, the GLM says “change” is the top word, while the editors at Merriam-Webster (www.merriam-webster.com) say “bailout” is their top pick. To be fair, they use different methods of measurement. GLM looks at language use and significance and Merriam-Webster focuses on the definitions of the year’s oft-used words. I’ll just go by what I see around town and in my life. I see a lot of change, but no one bailed me out this year, unless you count awkward social situations. Let’s go with “change,” then, shall we?

Coupled with “change” on the GLM list is “Obamamania,” a catch-all for the adoration our president-elect has gained from his most enthusiastic supporters. I have to admit that any phenomenon that involves minting Obama coins and selling them on TV the day after an election definitely qualifies as some kind of mania. “Surge” also made the list again this year, in honor of the successful military strategy in Iraq that cost Obama the election (in a parallel universe where Joe the Plumber is Ambassador to the United Nations).

Indeed both the GLM and Merriam-Webster lists seem to represent the contradictions of today’s society. On one hand, optimism abounds for a brighter future; on the other people seem wrapped up in fear over the impending collapse of any, perhaps all, of our institutions. GLM’s “top phrase” list includes “Yes We Can,” Obama’s iconic call to a new generation of Americans, but that phrase was far behind “Financial tsunami.” “Global Warming” is still on the list, but so is “Lip Synching.” The GLM “top people” list includes Beyonce and Bono, but also Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The top celebrity couple consists of the president of a NATO ally and his supermodel wife. What is going on?

It doesn’t help that the GLM top-ten list also includes “derivative,” “subprime” and “foreclosure.” These are not happy words. These are not words that suggest I should actually look at the things my stockbroker sends me in the mail. In fact, I have taken to using my monthly retirement account reports as insulation in the shanty I’m building at the edge of town (just in case). Ha ha! I’m kidding of course. My retirement account reports are sent electronically, which means that my shanty is so very, very cold.

If the GLM annual language review wasn’t enough, Merriam-Webster throws back winners like “socialism,” “misogyny,” “trepidation,” and “turmoil.” Oh, what I wouldn’t give for the good old days of 2005, when the universally accepted top word was “refugee.”

Though it didn’t come in at Number One, the best phrase from 2008 comes in at Number Six on the Global Language Monitor list: “It is, what it is.” Unfortunately, that’s all any of us can say about times like these.

Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Contact him or read more at his blog, MinnesotaBrown.com. His new book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” is out now.