Buzzwords that defined 2012

The past 12 months have been eventful in Bollywood, Hollywood, cyberspace and beyond. Here’s a look at the 10 words that were the most popular during this period.

Gangnam style
If 2011 was all about Kolaveri, 2012 had the world grooving to Korean pop. Psy’s surprise hit Gangnam Style became the most played track across the world.

Nirbhaya The Delhi gang rape of a young lady brought to the fore the problems being faced by the women in the country. While the nation protested against the atrocities to women using this as the trigger point, Nirbhaya (the name given to her by the TOI) became an icon of courage.

Jolie-ing While gowns with long slits have always been around, Hollywood diva Angelina Jolie made this style her own, as she showed off one of her legs at the Oscars this year.

50 Shades of Grey Call it porn, call it erotica or just a passing fad, but even litterateurs couldn’t help taking a look at these books that had caught the fancy of everyone, young and old alike.

Apocalypse While some laughed off the Mayan prophecy of the world ending on 21.12.2012, others were curious. Whatever the case, the idea of apocalypse this year trended, and how!

God particle Could there be a God particle? Scientists were up in arms debating this issue. At the end of the year, there’s no definite answer, but the scientists at CERN ended up being in the news.

Foodophilia We all love cookery-related shows and how. But this year saw the fans of shows like Masterchef and Top Chef get a new term for themselves.

Twypo While micro-blogging sites don’t boast of users with good English, the grammar Nazis had a new word that to contain the bad English. Typos (keying errors) on Twitter got a new term.

Royal embarrassment The Brit royal family loves being in the news. If Prince Harry’s exploits made it to the news first, nude photos of Kate and William on a vacation made it to the top this year.