Malala Top Name, Apocalypse Top Word Of 2012

Los Angeles: Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot in her head by Taliban, has become the top name of 2012 along with Apocalypse, reflecting a growing fascination with 'end-of-the-world' scenario, which emerged as the top word.

Korean rapper Psy's infectious viral hit song 'Gangnam Style' was the top phrase of the year, according to the 13th annual global survey of English language done by Global Language Monitor, which analyses the latest trends in word usage and their cultural impact.

Apocalypse was followed by deficit, Olympiad, Bak'tun, and meme. Completing the top 10 were MOOC, the Cloud, Omnishambles, Frankenstorm and obesogenic.

The other top phrases that followed Gangnam Style were Global Warming/Climate Change, Fiscal Cliff, The deficit, God Particle, Rogue nukes, Near-Earth Asteroid, Binders Full of Women, Arab Spring, Solar max and Big Data.

The top 10 names of 2012 were Newtown and Malala (tie), Xi Jinping, Kate Middleton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, London Olympics, Higgs Boson, Europe (EU/Eurogeddon), Felix Baumgartner (skydiver) and Senkaku Islands.

"Apocalypse reflects a growing fascination with various 'end-of-the-world' scenarios, or at least the end of life as we know it. This year the Mayan Apocalypse was well noted, but some eight of the top words and phrases were directly related to a sense of impending doom," says Paul J J Payack, president of GLM.

Also Read: 6 Major Internet Sensations Of 2012