Worst New Product Names 1. Hywire   GM's name for its new experimental fuel cell car that suggests (1) a potentially fatal act in a circus, in an (2) an electric vehicle (a spectacular automotive failure). Of course, (3) no one outside GM will ever call it "Hywire" because "Haywire" will always be good for an easy laugh.   2. Silk   From "soy + milk" Compounded by the company slogan "Silk is soy." No, it isn't; it is a kind of fine thread. You don't want a name that requires explanation.   3. Poolife   Here is a name in need of a hyphen (it seems to already have a colon). Would you want to put a product with this moniker in water you occasionally gulp?     4. Clonaid   The name for the cult that tried to clone the first human. They certainly could use some aid. But was this a simple case of misspelling-did they actually mean "Clownaid"?     5. Bene-   Benedryl (And now I wanna be a saw), Benefiber (now I wanna be a rope), Benefun (?). We can no longer ignore the silly use of bene- which can convey the sense of "good"梑ut words also have pronunciations.    

Top Enron Inspired Words 1. Enrosion Shrinking of the value of 401K plans as a result of entrepreneurial piracy. 2. Entronpy The sudden dissipation of accumulated assets into nothingness.

3. Enro   Unit of currency that used to be worth much more than it is now.   4. Enronitis   It seems to be contagious, too.   5. Chronic Enronitis   It is spreading and won't go away, either.  

Top Internet Words Moving into Widespread Use 1. Ping   Send a reminder, as in 'Ping me about that!' 2. Multitask   To perform several tasks at the same time. 3. 10X   In high tech jargon, the competitive advantage that separates a company from its competition. 4. Off line The replacement for "out of it," as 'Are you listening or are you off line?'

5. Bandwidth

Capacity, as 'We'll have to increase our bandwidth to handle the order.'

Top Sports-related Words 1. Zim As in 'to be zimmed' coined after 70-year old New York Yankees bench coach who lurched at Pedro Martinez in the American League Championship Series. 2. BCS College football's Bowl Championship Series has been called the "Bogus Championship Series" for leaving the Nation's No. 1 college Football team (USC) out of the title game. 3. Curse of the Bambino For the Boston Red Sox it's 85 years and still counting.

Top Word Trends in Pop Music Names 1. !!!   Bands without pronounceable names, though usually pronounced 'tch, tch, tch'. 2. ( )   Albums with symbols as names. This album by Sigur R髎 contains a songbook of 16 blank pages. 3. The The   The definite pronoun is definitely in pop music: Examples in 2003 include: The Distillers, The Thrills' The Strokes, The Postal Service, and The Crystal Method. 4. Lots of 'Rs'   Examples include Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" and Nelly's "Hot In Herre." 5. Downloaders   Downloaders could be anyone. From the 40-year-old classical connoisseur to the 11-year-old checking out Justin Timberlake.

Most frequently spoken word on the Planet: 1. OK Still the most popular word in languages around the world. "OK" originated in a joke in the 1830's, spelled "oll korrekt" in Boston newspapers, the joke being, both words were incorrect. It became so popular, that it was soon abbreviated to simply "O. K." Despite its popularity, the word would have fallen by the wayside had not Martin van Buren, called "Old Kinderhook" for being born in Kinderhook, N.Y. used it in his presidential reelection campaign of 1840. So don't "misunderestimate" the impact of presidential usage on the growth of our vocabulary. It is also spelled "okay."