­Words of the year: ‘Gangnam Style’ to enter dictionary?

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Published time: December 21, 2012 10:09
Edited time: December 21, 2012 19:44

Guinness record and world renown seem to be not enough for South Korean rapper PSY, whose hit song ‘Gangnam Style’ is now up for inclusion in the dictionary after publisher Collins named it among the words of the year.

Collins Dictionary has chosen a total of twelve words – one for each month – for its words of the year list.  However there’s no guarantee that either of these will actually make it to the next dictionary.

"We were looking for words that told the story of the year," Reuters quotes Ian Brookes, the dictionary's consultant editor as saying. "Some words are from events that have been and gone and so are not likely to stick around … but others are probably here to stay."

According to Brookes ‘Gangnam Style’ has a good chance of appearing in the next dictionary.

The video to ‘Gangnam Style’ has surpassed Justin Bieber’s Baby as the most watched YouTube video, and even the laziest now know the iconic horse-riding dance from the clip. Over 5 months it has scooped over 1 billion views on the video-sharing website.

‘Gangnam style’ was chosen along with "fiscal cliff", “mommy porn”, “superstorm” and "Romneyshambles”.

"Fiscal cliff" is term is used to refer to the economic effects that could result from tax increases, spending cuts and a corresponding reduction in the US budget deficit beginning in 2013 if existing laws are not changed by the end of 2012. The term is being actively used as the deadline approaches.

“Mommy porn” term became popular thanks to EL James’ best selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

"Superstorm" refers to the devastating Sandy Hurricane that wreaked havoc on the east coast of the US in October.

"Romneyshambles" term entered the British public life after Republican Mitt Romney made a number of gaffs during a visit to the UK including questioning Britain's readiness to host the Olympics during his visit to London in July 2012.