Sorting Through the Words and Terms of '07

The SFGate recently crowned "subprime" the 2007 Word of the Year, over "surge" and the terms "carbon footprint" and "wide stance." Merriam-Webster, as we reported, picked the interjection "w00t" and the new Oxford American Dictionary chose "locavore." And on January 4th the American Dialect Society will vote for their pick of '07; among the finalists: "astronaut diaper," "bacn," "earmarxist" and "smeet." Also a bunch of other more sexist, racist, and otherwise offensive terms (though definitely circulating throughout the year) I was surprised slash annoyed to see. If any of those are picked, it'll make for a pretty incendiary or at least really awkward press release.

For me, the word of the year is similarly wrought from circumstances--in this case, casting work. "Favored nations" would have to be my vote for the 2007 Word/Term of the/my Year. I had no idea what it meant until casting for a particular show whose producers knew we wouldn't get anyone on board unless all the talent's paychecks were identical; simply blurting "favored nations" meant there would be no equivocating.

Would love to hear your nominations, whether culled from a year of work lingo, inside jokes, or elsewhere...