As we announced in our newsletter this morning, we invite you to submit your own “word of the year” (or “WOTY”) nominations now through the end of the year. We’ll accept two- or three-word phrases, too, especially if they behave like compounds–”hockey mom” is an acceptable WOTY nomination, as is “driving while texting.”

What word became frequently used in 2008 and has so far most captured the essence of 2008 for you? What expression really seems to embody the spirit of these times? Is there a phrase you keep hearing or reading which always seems so perfectly “right now”? Let us know!

Send us an email to words@waywordradio.org or post them right here in this discussion thread. Be sure to explain what the word means and why you think it’s a great choice for “word of the year.”

Remember, we’re not looking for your language grudges or your all-time most-petted peeves. We’re looking for the words or phrases that help paint the whole picture of 2008.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be talking about your nominations, and our own, on the air.

By the way, Grant also does an annual word of the year piece in the New York Times and he’s part of the new words committee of the American Dialect Society, which holds the longest-running “word of the year” vote in the world. He’ll be considering your nominations for those lists, too! (And he’ll give you a sneak peek of some of the ones he’s already considering in a future episode.)

Of course, “bailout” could also have been the word of the year for 1975, the year of the federal bailout of New York City, or 1979… the year of the Chrysler bailout (the “first Chrysler bailout”, perhaps?). But that could just be me showing my age.

I sent this nomination before I discovered the forum but here is my nomination:

MELTDOWN

This will be the word of the year. If you choose any other word, it will be a mistake that you will regret in future years. The word is “meltdown”.

Meltdown is a noun that describes the era of economic collapse that began with the failure of subprime mortgage securities in the second half of 2008.

In the future, people may collect meltdown glass. Children will ask their grandfathers, “How did you and grandma live during the meltdown?” Standard economic activities will be described differently before and after the meltdown. As in: “Mortgage security trading was unregulated before the meltdown. After the meltdown, new international standards were enacted to govern economic activity.

The meltdown is a unique era as was the depression. There has never been a meltdown before and there will never be another meltdown.

My word of the year is robodial. Those darn prerecorded political calls drove me crazy this year.

My nomination for WOTY is “toxic.” What wasn’t toxic this year? - food products from China, campaigns, assets, loans, mortgages, managers/bosses, mail, our old computers & cell phones [e-wastes], underwear, cars, even a film entitled “Toxic.” Enough already!

My word of the year is robodial. Those darn prerecorded political calls drove me crazy this year.

That’s funny, Cassandra, because here in California I’ve heard them referred to as “bot calls,” and the robots are called “Caller BOTS.”

Oy vey, I’d rather be vetted than kvetchted.

I second the word securitization, and also nominate mortgage-backed securities, credit default swap, and collateralized debt obligation.