What’s your choice for Word of the Year?

I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for those end-of-year lists. You know, the 10 best movies of 2011, or the top news stories of 2011, or the five worst outfits worn by Lady Gaga in December 2011 alone. So I get overly excited when some of those lists appear before the year’s end, kind of like getting a Christmas present a month early.

But have you ever opened up your unexpected gift only to find a real dud? Like the Christmas sweatshirt that your Aunt Blanche cross-stitched candy canes across, just under the lace collar?

Yeah, me, too.

And I had that exact same feeling when I heard the choices for the 2011 Word of the Year.

So far I know of three.

The first was while driving in my car listening to NPR’s Fresh Air. Geoff Nunberg, the linguist contributor, chose occupy as his Word of the Year. Here was his reasoning: “If the Word of the Year is supposed to be an item that has actually shaped the perception of important events, I can’t see going with anything but occupy.”