Language:  “Weapons Of Mass Destruction” Selected Word of 2002

The term “weapons of mass destruction” was selected Friday by the American Dialect Society as its choice for 2002’s word of the year, according to the Associated Press (see GSN I and II, Dec. 21, 2001).

“The term goes back 50 years, but you can’t turn on the radio or television without hearing about ‘weapons of mass destruction,’” said Wayne Glowka, an English professor at Georgia College & State University and chairman of the society’s new words committee.

The society, which began in 1889, has been selecting words of the year since 1990, AP reported.  Many of the words society members nominated reflected the threat of an impending conflict with Iraq or the U.S. economic situation, Glowka said.

“All these words — Iraqnaphobia, regime change, weapons of mass destruction — they all have to do with worry about war with Iraq.  So it hasn’t been a very good year,” Glowka said.  “Not as bad as last year, but certainly not an ‘up’ year,” he added.

The society also selected the phrase “regime change” as most euphemistic because people were beginning to use it to describe changes of leadership other than a potential change in Iraq, according to AP.

“Like when a team fires a coach, they call it ‘regime change,’” Glowka said (Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Jan. 6).

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