Ryan Lochte during a training session in London on July 26, 2012.
Ryan Lochte, U.S. Olympic swimmer, who won five medals during the London Olympics — and produced many instantly viral statements during interviews.
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6. “What defines me? Ryan Lochte.”
Full List
Top 10 Animal Stories
Top 10 Apologies
- 10. Comedian Daniel Tosh, for Making Rape Jokes
- 9. Joe Biden, for Upstaging the President on Gay Marriage
- 8. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, for Agents Gone Wild
- 7. Libyan President el-Magariaf, for the Benghazi Attack
- 6. Kristen Stewart for Cheating on Her Twilight Co-Star
- 5. Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld, for Bungling Facebook’s IPO
- 4. Congressman Todd Akin, for His Comments About ‘Legitimate Rape’
- 3. Apple CEO Tim Cook, for the Crappy Maps App
- 2. David Petraeus, for His Extramarital Affair
- 1. Mitt Romney, for His ‘47%’ Fiasco
Top 10 Buzzwords
Top 10 Comebacks
Top 10 Crime Stories
- 10. ‘Cocaine Queen’ Griselda Blanco Murdered
- 9. Drew Peterson Convicted
- 8. Anders Breivik Sentenced
- 7. The Saga of Kim Dotcom
- 6. Trial of Jerry Sandusky
- 5. The Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting
- 4. The Worst Possible Way to Lose Face
- 3. Solved at Last? The Murder of Etan Patz
- 2. The Dark Knight Rises Massacre
- 1. The Trayvon Martin Shooting
Top 10 Feuds
- 10. Jon Hamm vs. Kim Kardashian
- 9. Oscar de la Renta vs. Cathy Horyn
- 8. Drake vs. Chris Brown
- 7. Anderson Cooper vs. M.I.A.
- 6. Jackson vs. Jackson
- 5. British Royals vs. the Paparazzi (Episode 6,213)
- 4. Silicon Valley vs. SOPA
- 3. The NFL vs. the Refs
- 2. Bloomberg vs. Big Soda
- 1. Rush Limbaugh vs. Sandra Fluke
Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
Top 10 Memes
Top 10 Numbers
Top 10 Quotes
- 10. “Listen, Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea, but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Damn it, go back onboard!”
- 9. “It’s like a real Chinese version of The Shawshank Redemption.”
- 8. “Mom, gold is good!”
- 7. “The players kind of look to us like the substitute-schoolteacher syndrome, like, ‘Let’s see what we can get away with.'”
- 6. “What defines me? Ryan Lochte.”
- 5. “I had a bet with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the next particle wouldn’t be found. It seems I have just lost $100.”
- 4. “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.”
- 3. “We’ve been waiting for it for 7,000 years. For the first time in history, we have our own President, elected by us.”
- 2. “You can make people buy broccoli.”
- 1. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Top 10 Religion Stories
- 10. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Pat Robertson.
- 9. The War on (the Date of) Christmas: The Pope Weighs In
- 8. Who Do Burma’s Buddhist Monks Hate? Muslim Migrants
- 7. The Conquest of Jerusalem by Ultra-Orthodox Jews
- 6. The Church of England’s Woman Problem
- 5. The Revolt of the Nuns
- 4. Pussy Riot vs. the Russian Orthodox Church
- 3. Syria’s Alawites: A Sect Under Siege
- 2. The Pope’s Butler Did It
- 1. Innocence of Muslims
Top 10 Scandals
- 10. Football’s ‘Bountygate’
- 9. Banks Sued for Rigging LIBOR
- 8. Bo Xilai Falls from Power
- 7. The Secret Service and Its Prostitutes
- 6. The Boy Scouts’ Hidden ‘Perversion Files’
- 5. Penn State, Part 2
- 4. Chick-fil-A and Gay Marriage
- 3. Lance Armstrong Is Stripped of His Titles
- 2. Susan G. Komen Defunds Planned Parenthood
- 1. The General’s Mistress: David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell
Top 10 Overreported Stories
Top 10 Underreported Stories
Top 10 Best Tweets
- 10. Twitter Breaks the News
- 9. Olympics Backlash
- 8. Beliebers Have Feelings, Too
- 7. Twit Lit
- 6. We Live-Tweet Everything — and We Mean Everything
- 5. Obama’s Tweet Slam
- 4. Tweet if You Love Big Gulps
- 3. Tweets from Mars
- 2. When Athletes Snap at 140 Characters
- 1. Election Night, and the Most Popular Tweet of All Time
Top 10 Worst Tweets