Ladies, gentlemen, wordsmiths of all ages: Introducing the Word of the Year 2009—and by, extension, buzzword of the year?—as determined by the New Oxford American Dictionary:

unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook. As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.

The word was chosen for its currency and potential longevity, according to Christine Lindberg, Oxford USA’s Senior Lexicographer. Visit the Oxford University Press Blog for a list of 2009’s Word of the Year finalists. (Two of the finalists have already been featured here on the Electronics Blog. Which ones? Find 'em here and here. Yes folks, we're that prescient.) —Nick K. Mandle