'Pod slurping' word of the year for 2007

4 Feb 2008, 4:04 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Pod slurping is Macquarie Dictionary's word of the year for 2007.

For those who've been doing a spot of pod slurping - your activity has gained more than cursory recognition.

Pod slurping is Macquarie Dictionary's word of the year for 2007.

Announcing the award, the Australian dictionary's three-member selection committee said the expression's inventive and sensuous appeal had seduced them.

Pod slurping, officially listed as a noun, is the downloading of large quantities of data to an MP3 player or memory stick from a computer.

"The committee felt that the most important criterion for word of the year should be linguistic creativity and evocativeness, rather than simple worthiness or usefulness," a Macquarie Dictionary statement said.

"Pod slurping also dips its lid to pod, a potent little word of our times."

The Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year committee comprised vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney, Professor Gavin Brown, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sydney, Professor Stephen Garton, and publisher of the Macquarie Dictionary, Susan Butler.

Pod slurping will be included with other new words in the annual update of the Macquarie Dictionary Online.

The committee gave an honourable mention to the noun infomania - the tendency to give immediate attention to incoming messages such as email and text messages, resulting in constant distraction and a corresponding drop in the recipient's attention levels and work performance.

Honourable mention also went to the noun carbon footprint - the carbon dioxide emissions for which an individual or organisation can be held responsible as a result of their travel, fuel consumption, diet and energy requirements.

The People's Choice Award went to password fatigue.

This noun means the level of frustration caused by having too many different passwords to remember, resulting in an inability to remember even those most commonly used.

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