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NEW YORK Look alive, selfie. There's another word of the year that's not all about you.

While Oxford University Press, the British publisher of the Oxford dictionaries, declared those little smartphone self-portraits its winner last month, the folks at Merriam-Webster announced "science" on Tuesday.

Oxford tracked a huge jump in overall usage of selfie, but Merriam-Webster stuck primarily to look-ups on its website, recording a 176 percent increase for science when compared with last year.

"The more we thought about it, the righter it seemed in that it does lurk behind a lot of big stories that we as a society are grappling with, whether it's climate change or environmental regulation or what's in our textbooks," said John Morse, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster Inc., based in Springfield, Mass.

- Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and editor at large for Merriam-Webster

Science, he said, is connected to broad cultural oppositions -- science versus faith, for instance -- along with the power of observation and intuition, reason and ideology, evidence and tradition. Of particular note, to Merriam-Webster, anyway, is fallout from the October release of Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, "David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants."

Gladwell, a popularizer of scientific thought and research in best-sellers and The New Yorker magazine, takes on the challenges of obstacles and the nature of disabilities and setbacks in the book. But he leaves science itself -- according to some critics -- as a rhetorical device for his main mission of storytelling.

The tweets, blog posts and online commentary about the book -- yay and nay -- proliferated as Gladwell hit the road to promote it. Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and editor at large for Merriam-Webster, called the Gladwell dustup a symptom of where science stands today.

With the explosion of information and technology, are we all scientists?

"You have scientists writing long pieces, purportedly reviews of his new book, basically criticizing him, and then his response is: 'Hey, buddy. I'm not a scientist. I'm a writer who's trying to promote the work of scientists. To contextualize it. To make it accessible.' You know, 'Don't blame me for not being a scientist' is basically his response," Sokolowski said.

Read the rest here:
Science beats out 'selfies'

NEW YORK: "Selfie" was the word of the year for Oxford University Press, the British publisher of the Oxford dictionaries. But folks at Merriam-Webster went old school on Tuesday with "science."

Oxford tracked a huge jump in overall usage of selfie, but Merriam-Webster stuck primarily to look-ups on its website, recording a 176 per cent increase for science when compared with last year.

"The more we thought about it, the righter it seemed in that it does lurk behind a lot of big stories that we as a society are grappling with, whether it's climate change or environmental regulation or what's in our textbooks," said John Morse, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster Inc, based in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Science, he said, is connected to broad cultural oppositions science versus faith, for instance along with the power of observation and intuition, reason and ideology, evidence and tradition. Of particular note, to Merriam-Webster, anyway, is fallout from the October release of Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, "David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants."

Gladwell, a popularizer of scientific thought and research in best-sellers and the New Yorker magazine, takes on the challenges of obstacles and the nature of disabilities and setbacks in the book. But he leaves science itself according to some critics as a rhetorical device for his main mission of storytelling.

The tweets, blog posts and online commentary about the book yay and nay proliferated as Gladwell hit the road to promote it. Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and editor at large for Merriam-Webster, called the Gladwell dustup a symptom of where science stands today.

With the explosion of information and technology, are we all scientists?

"You have scientists writing long pieces, purportedly reviews of his new book, basically criticizing him, and then his response is: 'Hey, buddy. I'm not a scientist. I'm a writer who's trying to promote the work of scientists. To contextualize it. To make it accessible.' You know, `Don't blame me for not being a scientist' is basically his response," Sokolowski said.

Jason Silva is neither scientist nor academic. He's a "techno optimist," filmmaker, "performance philosopher" and host of the popular "Brain Games" show on the National Geographic Channel.

"Ooh, that's awesome," he said upon learning of science's dictionary shout-out. "People are increasingly scientifically minded, and that makes me very happy."

See more here:
In your face, selfie! 'Science' also tops as word of 2013

Look alive, selfie. Theres another word of the year thats not all about you.

While Oxford University Press, the British publisher of the Oxford dictionaries, declared those little smartphone self-portraits its winner last month for 2013 word of the year, the folks at Merriam-Webster, an American maker of dictionaries, announced science as its pick on Tuesday.

Oxford tracked a huge jump in overall usage of selfie, but Merriam-Webster stuck primarily to words that people looked up on its Web site, recording a 176 percent increase for science compared with last year.

It does lurk behind a lot of big stories, said John Morse, president of Merriam-Webster.

Science, he said, is connected to broad cultural debates science vs. faith, for instance.

Jason Silva, host of the popular Brain Games show on the National Geographic Channel, was thrilled with the news.

Ooh, thats awesome, he said upon learning of sciences dictionary shout-out. People are increasingly scientifically minded, and that makes me very happy.

Associated Press

Excerpt from:
‘Science’ joins ‘selfie’ as 2013 word of the year

New York Look alive, selfie. Theres another word of the year thats not all about you.

While Oxford University Press, the British publisher of the Oxford dictionaries, declared those little smartphone self-portraits its winner last month, the folks at Merriam-Webster announced science on Tuesday.

Oxford tracked a huge jump in overall usage of selfie, but Merriam-Webster stuck primarily to look-ups on its website, recording a 176 percent increase for science when compared to last year.

The more we thought about it, the righter it seemed in that it does lurk behind a lot of big stories that we as a society are grappling with, whether its climate change or environmental regulation or whats in our textbooks, said John Morse, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster Inc., based in Springfield, Mass.

Science, he said, is connected to broad cultural oppositions science versus faith, for instance along with the power of observation and intuition, reason and ideology, evidence and tradition. Of particular note, to Merriam-Webster, anyway, is fallout from the October release of Malcolm Gladwells latest book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants.

Gladwell, a popularizer of scientific thought and research in best-sellers and The New Yorker magazine, takes on the challenges of obstacles and the nature of disabilities and setbacks in the book. But he leaves science itself according to some critics as a rhetorical device for his main mission of storytelling.

The tweets, blog posts and online commentary about the book yay and nay proliferated as Gladwell hit the road to promote it. Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and editor at large for Merriam-Webster, called the Gladwell dustup a symptom of where science stands today.

With the explosion of information and technology, are we all scientists?

You have scientists writing long pieces, purportedly reviews of his new book, basically criticizing him, and then his response is, Hey, buddy. Im not a scientist. Im a writer whos trying to promote the work of scientists. To contextualize it. To make it accessible. You know, Dont blame me for not being a scientist is basically his response, Sokolowski said.

Jason Silva is neither scientist nor academic. Hes a techno optimist, filmmaker, performance philosopher and host of the popular Brain Games show on the National Geographic Channel.

Original post:
In your face, selfie! 'Science' also top word for 2013

Merriam-Webster reported a 176 percent increase in look-ups of the word 'science' on its website this year. A Merriam-Webster editor says that the most looked-up words in the dictionary reflect the big ideas that are lurking behind the headlines.

Look alive, selfie. There's another word of the year that's not all about you.

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While Oxford University Press, the British publisher of the Oxford dictionaries, declared those little smartphone self-portraits its winner last month, the folks at Merriam-Webster announced "science" on Tuesday.

Oxford tracked a huge jump in overall usage of selfie, but Merriam-Webster stuck primarily to look-ups on its website, recording a 176 percent increase for science when compared with last year.

"The more we thought about it, the righter it seemed in that it does lurk behind a lot of big stories that we as a society are grappling with, whether it's climate change or environmental regulation or what's in our textbooks," said John Morse, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster Inc., based in Springfield, Mass.

Our data shows that many of the most looked-up words in the dictionary are words that reflect the big ideas that are lurking behind the headlines, writes Editor-at-Large Peter Sokolowski in a statement.

Science, Mr. Morse said, is connected to broad cultural oppositions science versus faith, for instance along with the power of observation and intuition, reason and ideology, evidence and tradition. Of particular note, to Merriam-Webster, anyway, is fallout from the October release of Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, "David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants."

Gladwell, a popularizer of scientific thought and research in best-sellers and The New Yorker magazine, takes on the challenges of obstacles and the nature of disabilities and setbacks in the book. But he leaves science itself according to some critics as a rhetorical device for his main mission of storytelling.

See the original post here:
Forget 'selfie.' The Merriam-Webster word of 2013: 'Science'