Unfriend is the word of the year 2009 according to the the New Oxford American Dictionary.
This is the first internet-inspired term to receive the title. The Oxford University Press Blog defines the verb as “to remove someone as a friend on a social networking site such as Facebook.”
“It has both currency and potential longevity,” says Christine Lindberg, Senior Lexicographer for Oxford’s US dictionary program. “Unfriend has real lex-appeal.”
Other words considered for the title were hashtag, sexting, funemployed and deleb.
Will Granger, first year Modern Languages student at St Hugh’s commented, “I have never heard anyone use the word ‘unfriend’ in ordinary conversation.”
