The American Dialect Society has chosen "app" as its 2010 Word Of The Year.

The shortened slang term for a computer or smartphone application was picked by linguists as the word that best sums up the country's preoccupation last year.

"Nom" - a chat, tweet and text-friendly syllable that connotes "yummy food" - was the runner-up. It derives from the Cookie Monster character on Sesame Street or, more accurately, the sound he makes as he devours cookies, "Nom, nom, nom, nom".

The vote came at a Pittsburgh hotel ballroom during the national conference of the Linguistic Society of America, an umbrella group that includes the Dialect Society.

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