"Tase" almost makes Oxford's word of the year

NOVEMBER 14, 2007

In past years it was "karaoke" and "blogger," but the Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year for 2007 came this close to being "tase."

That was the noun-turned-verb made famous by UF student Andrew Meyer', who cried out, "Don't Tase Me, Bro!" as campus police stunned him with a Taser at a campus speech by U.S. Sen. John Kerry in September.

Video of Meyer's outburst and arrest became a YouTube hit, fodder for late-night talk show hosts, and catnip for T-shirts and other memorabilia.

But alas, Oxford chose "locavore" as word of the year. It refers to the popular eat-local movement.

How's this for 'word of the year' usage: "I'm as much of a locavore as the next gal, but chicken tastes like it got tased one too many times."

Posted by Ron Matus at 1:20:49 pm on November 14, 2007 in

Higher Education

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