App was voted Word of the Year for 2010. (App being the abbreviated form of the noun application, software for a computer or phone operating system).

Each year, the American Dialect Society votes for the “vocabulary item” (it needn’t be a single word) that was  “…newly prominent or notable in the past year…” .  In 2009, it was Tweet. For 2010, it’s App.

Let’s take a look at some of the contenders:

Most Creative

spillion An immense number, calculated out of the gallons of oil spilled in the Gulf. Leading to spillionaire, someone made rich through the spill cleanup fund.

Most Euphemistic

kinetic event The Pentagon’s term for violent attacks on troops in Afghanistan. Heaven forbid we use simple terms such as violent attack. That sounds so much like, ew, war. This particular vocabulary item could win the “Most Duplicitous” award.

Most Likely to Succeed

-pad Combining form, begun with iPad and now other tablet computers (such as ViewPad and WindPad)

Enjoyably, the Society launched two new categories for 2010

Fan Words

Fans of pop singer Justin Bieber are Beliebers. You’re a Gleek if you like the TV show “Glee.” Twihards have read the “Twilight” books and seen the movies.

Election Terms

Here the candidates included…

mama grizzly Sarah Palin’s term for a fiercely conservative female candidate. This one’s got no legs.

Obamacare You never hear anyone call it “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.”

…but the members voted to delete the whole category! Odd. I think we’ll be hearing “Obamagate” for elections to come.

Few Words of The Year, and their also-rans, have survived past their trendiness. (How long will we be saying “Gleek”?) App, I think, is here to stay.