Error code "404" is the most popular term of 2013 - Público.pt

Last year, the English words most used in the media and social networks were related to the theories of the end of the world and the economy: Apocalypse / Armageddon and deficit . This year, the conversation continues on a pessimistic note: the universal code of “404″ error, which indicates that a requested page does not exist on the Internet, is the most popular word, followed by fail (failure).

The U.S. company Global Language Monitor analyzes since 2000 the words of the English language most used in the media online and print, social networks and blogs. Every year, the company publishes a report with the words, phrases and most popular names.

In this year’s report, the third and fourth show the increasing weight of social networks, even in religion. Third is the term hashtag (keyword that designates the subject under discussion on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), followed by @ pontifex (account of Pope Francisco on Twitter which has more than ten million followers).

most popular words for one year tend to reflect events, trends or concerns of society. Therefore, it seems natural that the list presents words like surveillance (surveillance) and drones (unmanned aircraft) before the news that fill the pages of newspapers about, for example, drone attacks Americans.

The document also reveals the expression popular in 2013 – toxic politics (aggressive political campaign, American style) – and the name written over: Pope Francis (Pope Francisco .) This is followed by ObamaCare (program that the U.S. president presented to the health sector) and NSA (National Security Agency of the USA). The names of the computer analyst Eduard Snowden and Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince William of England, happened in the same list.

“The recent failed launch of ObamaCare in the U.S. is just a representative example of a much broader failure of the system, ranging from the political deadlock in the U.S. government to the decline of the dollar, the global network of surveillance NSA, the uncertainty in relation to the European Union, and the integration of China and other emerging powers like India and Brazil, the global economic system, “explains Paul Payack, president of Global Language Monitor, in a press release.