Online Voters Name "Truthiness" 2006 Word of the Year

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 11, 2006 - 3:54pm.

Springfield, Mass. - Merriam-Webster OnLine announced on Monday that Web voters have named "truthiness" the dictionary's Word of the Year for 2006. Comedian Stephen Colbert coined the word in October 2005 on his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report," defining it as, "truth that comes from the gut, not books." Merriam-Webster, which this year turned to online voting instead of tallying the most frequently looked up words on its website to choose its Word of the Year, said that voters chose 'truthiness' by an overwhelming 5-to-1 majority. "I think there's a serious issue lurking behind the popularity of the word truthiness," said Merriam-Webster president and publisher John Morse. "What is it exactly that constitutes truth today? This isn't just a political question -- it's relevant to a broad spectrum of social issues where our ideas on the nature of authority are being challenged. Adopting the word truthiness is a playful way to deal with this important question."
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