THE NEWS word of the year in 2013 was ‘unemployment’, with journalists having used it in 7,164 stories last year. It was followed by the name of Slovak Prime Minister ‘Robert Fico’, which appeared in 6,554 stories. ‘Saving’ was the third most used word, occurring in 4,079 pieces, based on a ranking of the most commonly used words conducted by the monitoring agency Newton Media, the SITA newswire wrote.
The word ‘unemployment’ occurred in 2013 in 2,300 stories more than in 2012, and thus obtained its victory, while it ended five places lower in the previous year. On the other hand, the word crisis was used less in 2013, when it slid from last year’s second position to 25th.
The name of presidential candidate Radoslav Procházka occurred in more stories than the name of another presidential candidate, Andrej Kiska. However, their occurrence did not exceed 1,000 stories in the case of either. The names of MP Igor Matovič, emeritus bishop Robert Bezák and far right Banská Bystrica Governor Marian Kotleba occurred in over 700 pieces each, according to media analyst Martin Gonda.
The world ‘Gorila’, which was frequently used in 2012, did not make it into the top 10, ending 34th in 2013. On the other hand, the word ‘floods’ re-entered the list of the 10 most used words.
Of new words that made it into the 2013 ranking, the name of Czech President Miloš Zeman placed the highest, at 21st position, followed by Pope Francis, in 22nd place.
In 2012 the word of the year was ‘Robert Fico’, who also topped the ranking in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 the word of the year was the name of then prime minister Iveta Radičová.
The ranking of most frequently used words in 2013
1. unemployment
2. Robert Fico
3. saving
4. eurozone
5. Greece
6. corruption
7. highways
8. Syria
9. floods
10. Roma
