Top Ten Word Lists of 2003Lewisburg, PA. December 26, 2003. yourDictionary.com the Web's most complete language resource, today released its Top 10 Words of 2003, featuring words that have made the news this year. The complete list includes the top phrases, the top names, the best and worst product names, top Enron inspired words, top YouthSpeak words, and others. The full list is available at the company website, yourDictionary.com. "This year the Iraqi War has dominated the English language as it has dominated the news," said Robert Beard, CEO of yourDictionary.

　　Top Ten Words of 2003

　　1. Embedded¹

　　News correspondents embedded in military units suggested to many that news correspondents were in bed with the military.

　　2. Blog

　　Web logs have come of age and, regrettably, this lexical mutation² with them.

　　3. SARS Farm animals strike back at the humans who eat them again with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome³. The Flu (with a capital "F") is pushing right behind.

　　4. Spam This old word now refers to a plague contending with SARS for destructive potential. Could the Flu (with a capital "F") be any worse?

　　5. Taikonaut The Chinese astronaut distracted our attention from textiles and copyrights to remind us that China is a rising industrial power.

　　6. Bushism This word now has a real possibility for remaining in the language. (Dan Quayle has lost his chance of making solecisms his contribution to political history.)

　　7. Allision The National Transportation and Safety Board in investigating the Staten Island ferry tragedy concluded it wasn't a collision (between two moving objects) but an allision (a crash with an immoveable object).

　　8. Recall As in California Recall that resulted in the election of Ahh-nold as the Governator.

　　9. Middangeard Middle English for Middle Earth in the movies of Tolkien's trilogy, still fascinating millions around the world with its characters and insights into the origins of the English language.

　　10. Celibacy⁴ The word which holds the key to ending the seemingly eternal scandal of the US Catholic Church.