Words of the Year

They call the summer the "silly season", but I think there is a second silly season for anyone who likes languages: the annual series of "Word of the Year" competitions.

To "hypermile" is the winner for Oxford University Press in America. The meaning: to drive in a way that uses the minimum fuel.

Now that's a good idea, so why not have a new word for it? Here's a British factsheet to help you - they don't use the new word! If you are interested in cars and driving, there are a lot of useful factsheets at the Institute of Advanced Motorists - a good way to read something interesting and useful in English.

Another word of the year finalist was "topless meetings". No, that is not something you do on a beach, nor is it something you will find on Page 3 of The Sun or in the BILD newspaper (a German tabloid which is now available in English).

No, 'top'-less meetings are meetings where laptops are banned. So that the people actually listen to and look at each other !