The Most Used Word of 2014 Isn't Even a Word
An emoji is the word of the year for the first time.
— -- The top word of 2014 isn’t even a word, but an emoji: the heart emoji to be exact.
This is the 15th that media company Global Language Monitor has unveiled what it says are the most commonly used words, phrases and names.
The lists are comprised through computerized algorithms that analyze the use of English words across the Internet, the Austin, Texas-based company says.
“We have millions of sources that we check,” says Paul J.J. Payack, president and chief word analyst at the GLM. “We look at the 275,000 top newspapers in the world, books, social media, and several million blogs. Specifically, the heart emoji went wild, showing up millions of times a day.”
The heart emoji tops the list of the most used words in 2014. Trailing behind at number two is the popular pound-sign “hashtag,” followed by “vape” (short for smoking an electronic cigarette), which stands at number three.
In addition to measuring the most popular words, GLM also ranks the top names and phrases annually.
As a result of the shooting of an unarmed man in Ferguson, Missouri, demonstrators chanted “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” during protest, making it the number one most used phrase of 2014.
“Cosmic inflation” and “global warming” ranked at numbers two and three, respectively.
Global Language Monitor released the list of most popular words, names, and phrases Christmas Day.
To qualify for the lists, all words must be found globally, have a minimum of 25,000 in a search engine result and have depth, meaning they must appear in various forms of media.