The American Dialect Society released the final 2004 Words of the Year vote.

Nominated words are newly prominent -- but not necessarily coined in 2004 -- and can be any lexical item, term, or phrase that characterized the year (not necessarily just a single word).

The winnahs:

Word of the Year: red state, blue state, purple state, n., together, a representation of the American political map.

1. Most Useful: phish, v., to acquire passwords or other private information (of an individual, an account, a web site, etc.) via a digital ruse. Noun form: phishing.

2. Most Creative: pajamahadeen, n., bloggers who challenge and fact-check traditional media.

[...]

5. Most Euphemistic: badly sourced, adj., false.

[...]

The cite gives the remaining winnahs and also the runners-up and the vote counts.

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   posted by Sal Towse at  5:31 PM|| |