Did someone “unfriend” you? It just means you’re cool.

Yup, the New Oxford American Dictionary – the default dictionary for Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPhone has declared “Unfriend” as its word of the year!

Score one for social media!

The word of the year is selected from categories including Technology, Politics and Current Affairs, Environment, Novelty Words and Economy.

Apparently “Hashtag” was a close second, so it looks like Facebook just pipped Twitter.

The announcement in Oxford University Press USA’s blog quoted Christine Lindberg, Senior Lexicographer for Oxford’s US dictionary programme as saying:

“It has both currency and potential longevity.”

Personally, I’m not sure I agree – after all, the concept of “Friending” is Facebook specific. I would really have preferred something more social media focus (because, like Bob Geldof said just a couple of days ago: “Facebook and Twitter is a moment, social networking is forever”).

That is true longevity, IMHO.

And just in case you don’t know what “Unfriending” means, here is Oxford’s official definition:

unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.

As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.”

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