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.