Whatâ€™s your word this year?

Selfie is the word of 2013 as declared by the Oxford Dictionary. TOI speaks to celebs about other words that should have been included

Recently, the word selfie — self portraits taken on your phones or tabs, which has variations like welfie (workout selfie) and drelfie (drunk selfie) — was declared the word of the year by Oxford dictionary. Twerking gave selfie tough competition this year. But the fact that celebrities across the world endorse selfies put it in the lead. So much so that even though Oxford usually declares two different words for the UK and US, this year, selfie found acceptance in both regions.

"Words like selfies and photo-bombing describe everyone's attitude these days. People want to be seen everywhere, all the time. Narcissism should have been the word of the year instead," says actor Rajeev Ravindran.

City-based comedienne Rubi Chakravarti feels that words with a touch of the local language are even better. "We are coining new words every day. For example, a Tamilian friend of mine, who has hung out with me for a long time uses the word 'boka-a**' (a mix of Bengali and English that means stupid-a**) a lot. But selfie has become more famous because Oxford fancies it," she says.

Actor and comedian Vir Das, meanwhile, thinks that the word jugaad would have been apt in the Indian context. He says, "Having seen the condition of the Indian political system, I feel that jugaad is the perfect word to describe it. It stands for the Indian government, its mentality and the system in general, in which a lot of jugaad has happened this year."

Words made famous earlier
Sudoku 2005
Carbon footprint 2007
Unfriend 2009
FOMO 2011

Other words that made news this year
Bitcoin: Digital currency
Twerk: Sexually provocative dance move made famous by Miley Cyrus
Binge-watching: Watching back-to-back episodes of a TV show in rapid succession
Showrooming: Checking out a product in a showroom before buying it online
Photobombing: Inserting oneself in the field of view of a photograph