Word of the Year reflects what's happening with the market

By Carol Perry

For the Appeal

With so much seriousness in the markets today, I thought it might be time to lighten up.

At work, it seems like I have been spending a great deal of time discussing market conditions, the elections and the health of our economy. Such conversation is usually pretty serious and well, sometimes not much fun.

Each discussion seems to either start or end with the real estate markets, primarily subprime mortgages. Amid all of the subprime losses, the word subprime itself has proved to be a winner, not to mention just a bit fun.

The American Dialect Society this month chose it as its Word of the Year.

Now, I don't know about you, but I did not know that there was a Word of the Year. The society defines "subprime" as an adjective that describes a risky or less-than-ideal loan, mortgage or investment. I could not find the word in the dictionary, but it is now one of the most well used words around.

So who comes up with Word of the Year? Awards from the American Dialect Society, which is an informal club of word geeks, are dubious honors to say the least.

I looked up previous winners that include truthiness (2005) red/blue state (2004) and metrosexual (2003). We all remember the infamous chad (2000).

The word subprime was also the winner in a new category for real estate related terms.

New phrases included 'liar's loan" (money borrowed under false pretenses) and "ninja loan" (made to a borrower with no income, job or assets).

How about exploding ARM (rates rise above borrower's ability to pay) and "scratch-and-dent loan" (mortgage that has become a risky investment because borrower has missed payments) as fun new phrases? Choosing subprime as the word of the year reflects our preoccupation with the mortgage crisis, so with the stock markets experiencing such volatility, could a related word of the year be far behind? I nominate diworseify (too much diversification). I would like to hear your nominations.

• Carol Perry, of Carol Perry and Associates, has been a resident of Northern Nevada since 1983 and can be reached at carol.perry@lpl.com