Ramble On Ron

Diamonds, Music and other Facets of Life

“Unfriend” is Named Word of the Year And I Invented It!

Posted on | November 26, 2009 | 10 Comments

“Unfriend” was named the Word Of The Year by Oxford Dictionary.  And guess who broke it first?  That’s right, RambleOnRon will take credit for that one.  It was this blog post titled “Unfriended On Facebook – Compliment or Diss?” that got the attention of Wall Street Journal tech reporter Jessica Vascellaro.  She then interviewed me and I ended up getting the infamous “hedcut” in the Wall Street Journal in a story titled, “OMG, We’re Not BFFs Anymore?  Getting ‘Unfriended’ Online Stings”.

WSJ 12/24/08

WSJ 12/24/08

That article really changed my life in a way.  It got me a lot of media attention and actually ended up spawning a new and very real friendship with a family member of the person who unfriended me.  All because of my Larry David like analysis of a loss of virtual friendship.

So how can I claim that I invented “Unfriend” you say?  Because after I wrote that blog post, which got THOUSANDS of hits, I got emails from little nerdy know-it-alls saying, “It’s DEfriend, not UNfriend!”  Well guess what?  It’s UNFRIEND and the Oxford dictionary says so!  If you’re playing scrabble guess which word you can now use?

So on this Thanksgiving Day let’s be thankful of all of our friends, real or virtual.  And think about using your privacy settings before unfriending.  However, I have been unfriended since and you can be sure that I will have the last laugh with those people too!

Category: facebook, social media
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Comments

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10 Responses to ““Unfriend” is Named Word of the Year And I Invented It!”

  1. Daniel Gordon
    November 26th, 2009 @ 10:36 am

    Great Post, Ron! Funny how life takes us on paths… I’m Thankful and Proud to know you and be your Real Friend! :) Happy Thanksgiving to You and Your Family! All the Best!
    DG

  2. Ron Samuelson
    November 26th, 2009 @ 10:54 am

    Thanks Dan and have a great holiday to you and your family!

  3. Jenny from the blog
    December 3rd, 2009 @ 1:50 pm

    Wow,that is awesome! You really have to milk this puppy. I mean how many more times are you going to be able to coin the word of the year? Not many.

    Nice Work

  4. Ron Samuelson
    December 5th, 2009 @ 5:48 pm

    Hi Jenny, Yes of course I am milking it for all it’s worth! You’ll see more about it soon!

  5. Ron
    December 7th, 2009 @ 4:03 pm

    Here’s a related article in the Baltimore Sun, see Jenny I milked it!
    http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/technology/2009/12/baltimore_man_takes_credit_for.html

  6. Daniel Pope
    January 12th, 2010 @ 8:20 am

    You may have popularised it, but you didn’t invent it. Urbandictionary.com has it listed from as early as 2004.

  7. diamondbuyer
    November 26th, 2009 @ 10:30 am

    New blog post: “Unfriend” is Named Word of the Year And I Invented It! http://www.rambleonron.com/?p=471

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  8. diamondbuyer
    November 26th, 2009 @ 10:37 am

    @JVascellaro we invented “unfriend” – happy thanksgiving! http://bit.ly/5ceMxG

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  9. diamondbuyer
    November 26th, 2009 @ 10:37 am

    @JVascellaro we invented “unfriend” – happy thanksgiving! http://bit.ly/5ceMxG

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  10. SamuelsonsRocks
    November 26th, 2009 @ 11:11 am

    New Blog Post: “Unfriend” is Named Word of the Year And I Invented It! http://www.rambleonron.com/?p=471 http://bit.ly/8q1tPz

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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