‘Hands up, don’t shoot’ named the most cited phrase of the year by language researchers

OPINION:

With the media’s help, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” has become the most cited phrase in the world according to the Global Language Monitor, a Texas-based research group that bases its judgment strictly on public usage, relying on specialized computer software to gauge how frequently the phrase appeared in 275,000 electronic and print news sources, plus social media worldwide.

“It is our phrase of the year, emerging from demonstrators continued chant after shooting of unarmed suspect in Ferguson, Missouri.” says Paul JJ Payack, who led the research team, which cited “toxic politics” as the lead phrase last year, and “gangnum style” in 2012.

The group has come up with a top-10 phrase list for the year, though - again determined by how often the words make the news. In second place, it’s “cosmic inflation,” the explosive growth of the Universe from virtually nothing.

“OK, there was something nowadays called the singularity, sized about a billionth of a billionth of an inch. More evidence emerges that the Big Bang is settled science,” Mr. Payack observes.

In third and fourth places are the old persistent favorites “global warming” and “climate change,” followed by “war on women,” “all time high,” “rogue nukes,” “near-Earth asteroid and “big data,” which is also No 1 on the group’s list of top high tech buzzwords.

And in last place is more proof that the world does talk about the weather a lot: “polar vector” rounds out the list.

Mr. Payack says that to qualify for the organization’s lists, the words, names, and phrases must meet three criteria: Be found globally, have a minimum of 25,000 citations, and have the requisite depth and breadth of usage.

“Depth is here defined as appearing in various forms of media; breadth that they must appear world-over, not limited to a particular professional or social group or geography. The goal is to find the word usage that will endure the test of time.,” he says.