"Looking at the first decade of the 21st century in words is a sober, even sombre, event,"

Paul JJ Payack, president of The Global Language Monitor

Toward the end of 1999 the world was full of anticipation and nervous excitement. It wasn't just a new year or decade, or even a new century. It was the dawn of a new millennium. We wondered if the infamous Y2K bug would turn our computers into pumpkins on the stroke of midnight and we also contemplated our future. How would life be and what would be our biggest concerns in the 21st century?

The Global Language Monitor (GLM) is a Texas-based company that collectively documents, analyses and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language. As part of its annual global survey of the English language, GLM has just announced the top words of the past decade. The words were collected from throughout the English-speaking world which now numbers more than 1.58 billion speakers.

Sadly, the list reflects a beginning to the new century that has been fraught with human tragedies, financial woes and a battle against our changing climate. Payack goes on to say "For a decade that began with such joy and hope, the words chosen depict a far more complicated and in many ways, tragic time."

The top five words seem to bring a reality to what Payack says. Since the beginning of the decade, climate change has been as increasingly serious problem and not surprisingly, "global warming" sits in the number one position. Apart from environmental concerns, the worries of terrorism have had a notable impact on people's lives with "9/11" in second spot. The financial crisis that hit the world in 2008 brings "bailout" into position four and the man largely responsible for it, President Barack "Obama" is at number three.

The devastation of Hurricane Katrina means that the word "evacuee" rounds out the top five and an even more catastrophic natural disaster on Boxing Day 2004 sees "tsunami" at number 10. Just one place below is the most recent entry, "H1N1" which we more commonly know as swine flu. So, with the exception of President Obama, the list seems to represent pessimism and, even the world's despair.

The Global Language Monitor has also compiled the top phrases of the decade and these follow a similar pattern. In keeping with the top word, "climate change" is on top and this is followed by "financial tsunami" and "ground zero". Inside the top ten are "war on terror", "carbon footprint" and "swine flu". So, it becomes quite clear what our biggest concerns are and we need to look further down the list to find something more positive.

In his comments, Paul JJ Payack goes on to say "Nevertheless, signs of hope and renewal can be found in the overall lists." and a further examination of the list reveals what he is talking about. Firstly, there is an element of humour that the English speaking world has embraced and incorporated into its language. "Misunderestimate" was one of the first and most enduring errors of George W Bush that would become known as "Bushisms". "Dubya" himself ranks as the fourth top name of the decade.

The final entry on the list is the word "truthiness". This word was first attested in 1824 but its modern sense was revealed by comedian Stephen Colbert in 2005. It is defined as a truth that a person claims to know intuitively without any regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts. In his own words, "truth comes from the gut, not books" and the concept was well accepted.

Overall, it seems that the genuinely positive entries on the list relate to technology, especially computing and the internet. The "dot.com" bubble emerged at the beginning of the decade and it engendered no lifelines or bailouts. This word is at position 13 and is closely followed by words such as "blog", "texting" and most recently, the "Twitter" phenomenon. As expected, Facebook is in the list of the decade's top names.

The last decade has also offered a vast new range of communication options and the ability to create wealth online. The chance for everyone to generate residual wealth from home is one of the greatest developments in the past decade. This is an answer to concerns about financial instability and recession. It offers the chance to regain positive anticipation and be excited about the next decade. It's perhaps part of the hope and renewal that Paul Payack referred to.

After reflecting on the first decade of the 21st century, we can now look forward to the next one. This is a time to learn from past mistakes and embrace new opportunities. A time to plan, dream and set goals. The winning campaign slogan of President Barack Obama "Yes, we can!" was one of the top phrases of the past decade. Let this positive message be your inspiration. Can we enjoy a second income and financial freedom within ten years? Don't misunderestimate the power of the internet...I say "Yes we can!"