‘Selfie’ named word of the year

NEW YORK – We all learned what twerking is, thanks to an outlandish performance by Miley Cyrus. While use of the word ‘twerk’ suddenly rose, it didn’t quite make it as the word of the year.

The publisher of the Oxford Dictionary is calling ‘selfie’ the word of the year. A selfie is a photo someone takes of themselves with a smartphone. Use of the word rose, thanks to Twitter and Instagram this year.

Selfie was added to the dictionary back in August. Past words of the year include ‘unfriend’ in 2009, ‘credit crunch,’ ‘carbon footprint,’ and ‘Sudoku.’