Oxford 2009 Word of the Year: 'Unfriend'

Every year, the New Oxford American Dictionary prepares for the holidays by making its biggest announcement of the year -- the word of the year. This year's word? "Unfriend."

It's a verb that means to remove someone as a "friend" on a social networking site such as Facebook. For example, "I decided to unfriend my boss in case I had nothing nice to say about him."

"It has both currency and potential longevity," notes Christine Lindberg, Senior Lexicographer for Oxford's U.S. dictionary program in a statement.

"In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year."

Wonder what were some of the words considered but didn't make the list?

Sexting, meaning the sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by cellphone.

Intexticated, meaning distracted because texting on a cellphone while driving a vehicle.

Netbook, a small, very portable laptop computer with limited memory.

Paywall, a way of blocking access to a part of a website which is only available to paying subscribers.