The American Dialect Society released the final 2004 Words of the Year vote.
Nominated words are newly prominent — but not necessarily coined in 2004 — and can be any lexical item, term, or phrase that characterized the year (not necessarily just a single word).
The winnahs:
Word of the Year: red state, blue state, purple state, n., together, a representation of the American political map.
1. Most Useful: phish, v., to acquire passwords or other private information (of an individual, an account, a web site, etc.) via a digital ruse. Noun form: phishing.
2. Most Creative: pajamahadeen, n., bloggers who challenge and fact-check traditional media.
[...]
5. Most Euphemistic: badly sourced, adj., false.
[...]
The cite gives the remaining winnahs and also the runners-up and the vote counts.
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