# American Dialect Society's 2005 Word of the Year: Truthiness

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dialect-societys-2005-word-of-the-year-truthiness/338870>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 7, 2006, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dialect-societys-2005-word-of-the-year-truthiness/338870 "2006-01-07T07:02:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dialect-societys-2005-word-of-the-year-truthiness/338870/1 "2006-01-07T07:02:03Z")

</div>

The [American Dialect Society](http://www.americandialect.org/) just voted on its 2005 words of the year. The winner, edging out Katrina and Katrina-related words? Truthiness. Stephen Colbert’s head will get even swellier.

Other winners:  
Most Useful: podcast  
Most Creative: whale tail (the appearance of thong or g-string underwear above the waistband of pants, shorts, or a skirt)  
Most Unnecessary: K Fed  
Most Outrageous: crotchfruit  
Most Euphemistic: internal nutrition (force-feeding a prisoner against his or her will)  
Best Tom-Cruise-Related Word: jump the couch  
Most Likely to Succeed: sudoku  
Least Likely to Succeed: pope-squatting

Note that “Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as “vocabulary item”—not just words but phrases. The words or phrases do not have to be brand new, but they have to be newly prominent or notable in the past year.”

You can read the press release [in PDF form (220K)](http://www.americandialect.org/Words_of_the_Year_2005.pdf), which includes all nominees and vote totals in each category.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dialect-societys-2005-word-of-the-year-truthiness/338870/2 "2006-01-07T07:08:27Z")

</div>

See now I would of thought crotchfruit would be testicles.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dialect-societys-2005-word-of-the-year-truthiness/338870/3 "2006-01-08T01:59:51Z")

</div>

They’re not?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dialect-societys-2005-word-of-the-year-truthiness/338870/4 "2006-01-08T03:47:53Z")

</div>

Nope, crotchfruit are someone’s off-spring.