Distracted Driving is the Webster's New World(R) 2009 Word of the Year

HOBOKEN, N.J., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Faster, lighter, more, NOW...the new
generation of tools and toys in the Digital Age is a global obsession. And
today, it may also be a crime.

Distracted driving - what many are guilty of when they use digital devices on
the go - is rapidly entering law books around the world and earns the 2009
Word of the Year choice at Webster's New World® College Dictionary. The
competition had several worthy contenders, with cloud computing and wallet
biopsy as runners-up. For other top candidates, visit the Word of the Year
website at http://NewWorldWord.com.

A sign of the times surely, distracted driving is another reflection - and
consequence - of our ongoing romance with all things digital and mobile and
the enhanced capabilities they provide. While it now may be easier and quicker
to feed our multitasking habits, it is not always safe, and many jurisdictions
are formalizing that position by making it a crime to text or otherwise use a
cellphone while driving. In other words, CrackBerry users beware, lest a
charge of DWD (driving while distracted) or DWT (driving while texting) stain
your record, not to mention endanger yourself and others. (CrackBerry - the
mocking term for the BlackBerry(TM) and its "addicts" - was the 2006 Word of
the Year. One wonders if distracted piloting will be on the list in 2010.)

The term distracted driving is also a linguistic catch, note Webster's New
World® editors. As with drunk driving, it is not the driving that is drunk or
distracted, but rather the driver. The target of the modifier distracted has
been changed. Called hypallage, this twist is frequently seen in poetry, but
as terms like restless night,juvenile detention center, and careless remark
attest, such semantic inversion is not limited to the heights of language use.

Among the runners-up were

cloud computing computer operations in which documents and data are
created, edited, and stored remotely on servers and
accessed by the user via an Internet connection (a
beta definition, but this term is so well
established that it will likely be added to the
annual update of the College Dictionary in 2010)

wallet biopsy examination, before medical service is provided, of
a patient's ability to pay, enabling the health
care provider to decide whether free or discounted
medical care is appropriate; a term probably fueled
in part by the debate on national health care

and a number of business and economy-related terms, such as stimulus and
Too Big To Fail.

Choosing the Word of the Year is a pleasant exercise that the editors and
language researchers (called citation readers) of Webster's New World® look
forward to each year. "We survey the emerging English of the past year," says
Editor in Chief Michael Agnes, "and choose one word (or phrase) that captures
our imagination - whether with its intrinsic linguistic attributes or by the
way it expresses how language reflects changing realities."

"In most cases," says Agnes, "the word chosen is a new one and thus hasn't yet
found its way into the dictionary. As we do not try to predict the future of
language change in English, the choice does not reflect an opinion that the
term will eventually be found in the dictionary. In short, it's merely one
that made us chuckle, think, reflect, or just shake our heads. In any case, it
is a product of our language monitoring program, by which we collect examples
of emerging new English - to the tune of nearly 3,000 new examples per month.
Our citation files now hold approximately 2 million such examples."

Through more than five decades of language research, Webster's New World®
lexicographers have created a uniquely modern dictionary that helps you
understand and use the language as no other dictionary can. With the most
readable, precise, and up-to-date definitions, the dictionary also has
reference sections that provide a wealth of information not found in any other
college-level dictionary. Included are rules of punctuation, geographical
tables, and scientific and measurement charts. The rich history of our
language is traced with the identification of Americanisms and with detailed
etymologies, and the dictionary also boasts higher-quality paper that enhances
readability and durability.

Selected by the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times,
and other leading newspapers as their official dictionary of choice, Webster's
New World® College Dictionary represents the finest linguistic scholarship.
For more information on the lexicographical process behind the dictionary,
Editor in Chief Mike Agnes is available for interviews.

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SOURCE Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Adrienne Fontaine, +1-201-748-5626, afontain@wiley.com