Do you know the top words, phrases and names of 2013?

‘404’, the erroneous error message that appears on websites, has been voted as the top word of the year by the Global Language Monitor in its 14th annual global survey of the English language.

“404 has gained enormous attention the world over this year as systems in place since World War II, which many see as the beginning of the contemporary era, are in distress or even failure.” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor. 

“The recent ObamaCare launch debacle in the US is only a representative example of a much wider system fail, from the political deadlock in the US Government, to the decline of the dollar, to the global web of intrigue and surveillance by the NSA, to the uncertainty regarding the European Union, and the on-going integration of China and other rising powers, such as India and Brazil into the global economic system.”

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404: The near-universal numeric code for failure on the global Internet.

Fail: The single word fail, often used as a complete sentence (Fail!) to signify failure of an effort, project, or endeavour.

Hashtag: The ‘number sign” and ‘pound sign’ reborn as the all-powerful Twitter hashtag.

@Pontifex: The Hashage of the ever-more popular Pope Franciscus (Francis).

The Optic: The ‘optic’ is threatening to overtake ‘the narrative’ as the Narrative overtook rational discourse. Does not bode well for an informed political discussion.

Surveillance: The revelation of the unprecedented extent of spying by the NSA into lives of ordinary citizens to the leaders of the closest allies of the US.

Drones: Unmanned aerial vehicles that are piloted remotely or by on-board computers used for killing scores or even hundreds of those considered enemy combatants of the US.

Deficit: Looks like deficit-spending will plague Western democracies for at least the next decade. Note to economists of all stripes: Reducing the rate of increase of deficit spending still increases the deficit.

Sequestration: Middle English sequestren, from Old French, from Latin sequestrare, to hide away or isolate or to give up for safekeeping.

Emancipate: Grows in importance as worldwide more women and children are enslaved in various forms of involuntary servitude.

Toxic Politics: American-style scorch-and-burn political campaigns becoming the norm for democracies worldwide.

Federal Shutdown: To the founders it was a delicate balancing of powers. A generation ago it was called Checks and Balances, Today, we call it Federal Shutdown.

Global Warming/Climate Change: Add ‘anthropogenic’ warming to this fact:  the existence of  the Bering Land Bridge 20,000 years ago suggests that the Oceans were some 100 meters lower than today.

Federal Deficit: The difference between what the government takes in and what it spends. Ten of the twelve largest global economies are running large deficits. The exceptions? China and Germany.

Tread Lightly: The advice from Walter White of television’s Breaking Bad, speaks volumes to many in the 21st century.

Boston Strong: Signifying the resilience of Bostonians after the terror of the Marathon Bombing.

Marathon Bombing: Terrorist bombing at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon resulting in five deaths and 280 additional casualties.

Chemical Weapons: Geneva Convention: any toxic chemical or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action.

All Time High: Many see this all-too-prevalent description of many world markets as more of a warning that a cause for celebration.

Rogue nukes: Sources state that Iran can now assemble a bomb in two weeks. This is going from hypothetical to reality.

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Pope Francis: The 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.

ObamaCare: Five years after Obamamania, the president’s name is still in use though not always in a praiseworthy manner.

NSA: The National Security Agency of the US collects intelligence through clandestine means of both foreign and (to the surprise of many) domestic sources.

Ed Snowden: Edward Joseph Snowden, the former NSA contractor and CIA employee, who leaked classified United States, British and Israeli surveillance programs.

Kate Middleton: Officially, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, the fashion and style icon, the future Queen of the Realm, wife of the Prince of Wales, and mother of Prince George of Cambridge. 

HRH Georgie: Nickname of Prince George of Cambridge, son of ‘Wills and Kate”.

IRS: The Internal Revenue Service, the tax-collecting (or revenue enhancement) body of the US government, which was in the spotlight for allegedly selectively auditing right-wing targets.

Ted Cruz: Rafael Edward Cruz, the Tea Party supporter and Senator from Texas, who led a filibuster on the floor of the US Senate for 21 hours and nineteen minutes in opposition to the Affordable Care Act. 

Chris Christie: Governor of New Jersey who achieved national fame while touring the devastation wreaked on the JerseyShore by Superstorm Sandy with President Obama.

Tea Party: A Conservative political movement in the US, that takes its name from the Massachusetts protesters dumping tea into BostonHarbour in 1773 to highlight their call for ‘no taxation without representation’

Marathon Bombers: Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the alleged perpetrators of the Terrorist bombing at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon resulting in five deaths and 280 additional casualties.

Malala Yousafzai: The Pakistani girl shot by terrorists for promoting the right to education for girls.

Xi Jinping: Replaces Hu Jintao, under whose administration China has seen a decade of extraordinary growth.

US President Barack Obama: ‘Hope and Change’ retreats further into history as Obama seeks to find a better second term fates that his immediate predecessors.

Hassan Rouhani: Newly elected president of Iran and successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  The Iranian presidency is a largely ceremonial post.

Sochi Olympics: The XXII Olympic Winter Games to take place February 7-23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.