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| Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2012 ‘omnishambles’ |
It's actually a neologism which was first used a few years ago in the British political comedy, The Thick of It. It became popular this year when it was uttered in a speech by a Labour Leader in the British House of Commons. It basically means a situation characterized by complete and utter disorder ('omni' meaning all and shambles meaning, of course, a mess). The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) selected "omnishambles" as the British English Word of the Year 2012 (WOTY) today, and chose "gif" as the American English WOTY. Gif, of course, is the image format Graphic Interchange Format. Gif has been around for a long time, but only just made it to WOTY status today. There are other WOTYs designated by different language organizations, but the OED probably has the greatest influence.
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