Something the Global Language Monitor calls its Narrative Tracker technology determined the top words, phrases and names. This technology “analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 75,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources” for references to certain terms.

This year’s top honors in the word category go to words we’ve frequently seen and heard in the news recently:

1. Occupy – Occupy has risen to pre-eminence through Occupy Movement, the occupation of Iraq, and the so-called Occupied Territories.
2. Deficit – Growing and possibly intractable problem for the economies of the developed world.
3. FRACKING – Hydraulic fracturing is a controversial method for extracting fossil fuels from hitherto unreachable deposits.

Full details here: http://www.languagemonitor.com/global-english/top-words-of-2011/