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With a dwindling economy, endless Washington infighting and a massive oil spill, 2010 was pretty dismal. But hey — we learned some new words, right?
TIME.com has a list of the year’s top buzzwords — those phrases we kept repeating over and over to describe the year’s phenomenons and news stories.
At the beginning of this year’s World Cup, people couldn’t help but wonder — what was that strange noise heard throughout the games? The hum came from vuvuzelas, plastic horns that became the year’s top buzzword.
On the political side, “Mama Grizzlies” was a new term coined to describe Tea Party-friendly, Sarah Palin-backed female candidates in the midterm elections.
NewsFeed’s favorite buzzword on the list? “Release the Kraken!” Yes, that’s technically three buzzwords, but Liam Neeson’s thunderous command in Clash of the Titans will stick with us — and keep us giggling — for a while to come.
For the full list of the top 10 buzzwords of 2010, head to TIME.com.