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Subprime voted 2007 word of the year
In its 18th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted “subprime” as the word of the year. Subprime is an adjective used to describe a risky or less than ideal loan, mortgage, or investment. Subprime was also winner of a brand-new 2007 category for real estate words, a category which reflects the preoccupation of the press and public for the past year with a deepening mortgage crisis.
Subprime beat out green-(the prefix), Facebook, waterboarding and Googleganger foe the top spot in this year’s list. What’s a Googleganger, you say? It’s someone whose names shows up alongside yours when you Google yourself. Now you know.
Other mortgage-related words in this year’s list:
- Exploding ARM: An Adjustable Rate Mortgage whose rates soon rise beyond a borrower’s ability to pay.
- Liar’s loan/liar loan: Monet borrowed from a financial institution under false pretenses, especially in the form of a “stated income” or “no-doc” loan which can permit a borrower to exaggerate income.
- NINJA: No Income, No Job or Assets. A poorly-documented loan made to a high-risk borrower.
- Scratch and dent loan: A loan or mortgage that has become a risky debt investment, especially one secured with minimal documentation or made by a borrower who has missed payments.
The original announcement and full list is available here.
