'BP Spillcam,' 'Guido' deemed top TV words

LOS ANGELES — The Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the success of the TV show "Jersey Shore" made words like "BP Spillcam" and "Guido" among the most used words of the 2009-2010 TV season, according to a global language survey released on Thursday.

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"BP Spillcam" topped the list by the Global Language Monitor due to the live camera feeds of the ruptured deep sea well that caused the world's biggest offshore spill. The murky pictures of the well were watched by millions of viewers on television, the Internet and mobile devices.

In second place was the term "dysfunctional" thanks to the success of the Emmy-winning television comedy "Modern Family."

"Guido" -- the popular but largely pejorative slang word for young Italian-Americans -- came in third due to New Jersey-centric TV reality shows such as MTV's pop culture hit "Jersey Shore."

"The Top TeleWords of 2010 encompassed an unintended 'up-close-and-personal' view to an unparalleled natural disaster, resonating sitcoms detailing the contradictions, foibles and joys of post-Modern life... and more Guidos and Guidettes and one might encounter in a lifetime," said Paul JJ Payack, president of the Global Language Monitor.

The Texas-based Global Language Monitor uses a math formula to track the frequency of words and phrases in print and electronic media.

Other words on the list include "Lady Gaga," "rude," in reference to departing "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell, and "Asperger's Syndrome" , the autism disorder seen on the Emmy Award-winning HBO film, "Temple Grandin."

The 2010 list is the seventh annual analysis by the Global Language Monitor. Last year's Top Teleword was "Obamavision".