Sudoku, the name of the Japanese logic puzzle that has taken Britain by storm -- has been named "word of the year" by the Language Report published Wednesday.
Author Susie Dent said sudoku "burst onto the scene" in a fraction of the time it would have taken a new word to establish itself even 10 years ago, indicating a shift in the now multicultural English language.
Dent said language gives insight into popular social preoccupations of the time -- including sudoku -- and allows for historical comparisons to be made in leisurely pursuits by studying linguistic novelties.