App, short for application and one of the most used words associated with smartphones, tablets, and computers, but it wasn’t really until Apple came up with the original iPhone and their App Store, that the term “App” really took off in the mobile space, and there have been several “app stores” become available ever since.
Now according to an article over on Mobile Syrup, and by way of Nseries Blog, the term “App” has been votes as Word of the Year 2010 by the American Dialect Society. The official meaning to the word App according to the society is “Application, a software program for a computer or phone operating system.”
However we all know that an App is much more than that, an app delivers a multitude of things for the user to do, play games, watch videos, chat, social network, and so much more. Let’s face it without the humble app the smartphone wouldn’t be where it is today.
Apparently one of the most convincing arguments for “App” becoming the Word of the Year 2010 was down to a woman stating that even her grandmother had heard of the word, so it would appear that “app” doesn’t have any age barriers.
Having owned a computer for what seems like centuries, I always referred to computer programs as programs and it wasn’t until I had my first smartphone, an Android T-Mobile G1 that I used the term “App”, so personally I would say that the invention of the smartphone, such as the iPhone, really brought the word into the public arena.
So what do our readers think, does “App” deserve the Word of the Year 2010 award or do you thing there is another word that should have gained the title?
