by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman

The American Dialect Society was founded in 1889 and is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America. The organization sheds light on trends in language.

A word of the year is selected at the annual meeting each January. Last year, the word “plutoed” was chosen, which means to be demoted or devalued.

The Associated Press reported that at this year’s meeting, about 60 members of the organization, which includes academics, teachers, writers and amateurs among others, spent two days debating the merits of the 2007 word.

Runners-up were “Facebook,” “google” and “waterboarding” but the group’s wordsmiths chose “subprime,” signifying the public’s concern for the deepening mortgage crisis.

Linguists consider the word strange, in that “sub” translates roughly into “below the standard,” while “prime” means close to the best.  It was reported that students were saying that they’re going “to subprime a test; that is, mess it up.”

The members started choosing words of the year just for fun in 1990, not in an official capacity. But the idea was appealing and members say the activity is here to stay.