Vampires
The Global Language Monitor is a large, US based company which aims to monitor and analyse language trends all over the world. Every year the organization compiles ‘Top word of the year’ list: a fascinating read not only in terms of linguistics but also as a perfect demonstration of how the society works.
So, according to the 2009 list, the top word is Twitter, described as “the ability to encapsulate human thought in 140 characters”. Here at FemaleFirst we decided to make our own list of keywords of the year. It turned out to be slightly different from the Language Monitor’s list just because they track word’s frequency in the media, whereas we tried to include things which have had certain impact on most people during 2009.
Recession
Unfortunately, we have to start with this rather gloomy word. Although it mainly took place in 2008, we can still see the consequences with manufacturing output going down and unemployment figures reaching almost 2.49 million. Economists claim that the current financial crisis is the longest since World War II.
Despite the fact that all governments tried to work out plans for saving the economy, it is true to say that recession affected all families in the country.
Michael Jackson
Deaths of celebrities always affect their fans but with Michael Jackson it has been more than just a funeral. His sudden death just before the planned concert series attracted worldwide coverage with almost one billion people audience.
The memorial service, that took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, was attended by many world-famous singers, whilst an online ticket lottery received more than 1.2 million applications in 24 hours.
Large Hadron Collider
General audience is not normally interested in physics and other complicated scientific issues. Surprisingly, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been widely covered in the media. Obviously, a mysterious scientific object located almost 175 meters below ground in Switzerland is going to make news. However, there was another reason for its popularity: a film based on Dan Brown’s novel. Angels & Demons, which was released earlier this year, has played a significant role in ‘promoting’ the LHC.
The film made CERN (organization that built the LHC) known to people who had not heard of it before. The massive public interest eventually led to an official response from CERN, in which the experts answered various questions related to antimatter and how it could be applied in real life.
However, the organization is not only famous for constructing the LHC. CERN is also known as a ‘birthplace’ of the Web, which invented here in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee.
The period from 2000 to 2009 brought many influential websites, including Facebook, MySpace and Wikipedia. But it seems true to say that Twitter has been number one in 2009. Launched in 2006, it is now considered the 3rd most used social network.
Twitter went even beyond an ordinary internet website. It has been used in emergencies, political campaigns, education and space exploration.
There is even a book called Twitterature which presents “world’s greatest books retold through Twitter”. Tweets have entered modern culture as more and more people are learning to express their thoughts in 140 characters.
Vampire
Vampire stories have been known in many cultures all over the world for centuries. Similarly, vampire films have been made since the early days of cinema. Some of these films were produced even before World War I. According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), there are almost 200 films mentioning Dracula only.
A series of movies related to vampires such as Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, The Vampire's Assistant and Daybreakers turned out to be extremely popular. It is also interesting that some of these films included a romantic side, talking as much about relationship as well as fantasy.
by Zair Kashek
Tagged in bizarre