In 2004, it was “blog.” How exciting.

In 2005, it was “integrity.” So lame.

In 2006, it was Stephen Colbert’s creation, “truthiness,” which is defined as “truth that comes from the gut, not books.”

So what could it be in 2007, a year filled with lots of blogs, little integrity, and just a smattering of truthiness?

::drum roll please:: The Merriam-Webster 2007 Word of the Year is…

w00t. Yes, that’s one “w,” two zeros, and a “t”. Not familiar with the w00t, are you? Well then, you obviously are way too cool for me. Some of my friends have been using w00t and other random l33t speak for years, thinking (as most nerds do) that it’s only a matter of time before they take over the world and everyone has to speak a new language composed of letters and numbers. Weirdos.

Anyway, Merriam-Webster defines this little gem of a term as “expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word ‘yay’.” I would like to submit the following terms for its list of synonyms: woohoo, holy shit, hot damn, in your face, and fuck yeah!