Report: Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ chosen as one of Collins Dictionary’s words of the year

Report: Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ chosen as one of Collins Dictionary’s words of the year

Psy's "Gangnam Style" earns a spot in a UK dictionary.

For South Korean rapper Park Jae-sang, 2012 will be one to remember. Now, Psy has one more achievement to add to his chest of awards and accolades from this year. Reuters reports that “Gangnam Style” is up for inclusion in Britain’s Collins Dictionary. In addition to “Gangnam Style,” “fiscal cliff” and “Romneyshambles” will also be added to the dictionary.

“We were looking for words that told the story of the year,” Ian Brookes, the Collins Dictionary’s consultant editor, told Reuters in an interview. “Some words are from events that have been and gone and so are not likely to stick around […] but others are probably here to stay.”

Reuters notes that the UK dictionary received more than 7,000 submissions on its online database. However, only twelve words of the year (one for each month) were chosen. These words were picked based on a variety of factors, including frequency of use in public discourse. Although being one of the dictionary words of the year does not necessarily mean that “Gangnam Style” will appear in the next dictionary, the dictionary’s consultant editor says the popular song and dance craze has probably earned the right to be included.

“It’s obviously a craze, so there’s the possibility it will go away. But it’s been heard by so many people that I think it’s probably earned the right to go into the dictionary,” Mr. Brookes said.

Psy’s “Gangnam Style” YouTube video is approximately two million views short of reaching one billion views, making in the most popular YouTube video of all time (even more popular than Justin Bieber’s mega hit “Baby”). Citing YouTube, Mashable notes that the video receives, on average, seven million views per day. The tech site says, however, that the video seems to be gaining views at a quicker rate than usual as the one-billion mark approaches.

Not only has “Gangnam Style” rocketed the South Korean rapper into the spotlight around the world, the popularity of Psy’s music video is expected to net him a major payday. According to The Associated Press, Psy will haul in approximately $8 million in 2012 due to the popularity of “Gangnam Style.”

The AP notes that Psy’s payday will come from a variety of sources. The South Korean rapper will make approximately $870,000 from YouTube views, $2.4 million in iTunes downloads, $50,000 in CD sales and $61,000 on streaming plays in South Korea. The AP also says that Park Jae Sang owns stock in DI Corp. Since the release of “Gangnam Style,” the sale price of this company’s stock has doubled.

Despite being up for inclusion in a UK dictionary, Psy also discovered the negative side of being in the spotlight in 2012. Earlier this month, critics slammed Psy for a 2004 song that called for the killing of Yankees.

“Kill those f—ing Yankees who ordered them to torture … Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers … Kill them all slowly and painfully,” Psy raps in a 2004 song called “Dear Americans.”

“The song I featured on in question from eight years ago — was part of a deeply emotional reaction to the war in Iraq and the killing of two Korean schoolgirls that was part of the overall antiwar sentiment shared by others around the world at that time,” Psy said in a statement. “While I’m grateful for the freedom to express one’s self, I’ve learned there are limits to what language is appropriate and I’m deeply sorry for how these lyrics could be interpreted. I will forever be sorry for any pain I have caused by those words.”

Despite efforts to have him pulled from the list of performers, the South Korean rapper performed for President Barack Obama at “Christmas in Washington.”

Be social, please share!

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *