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Countdown's Susie Dent said omnishambles was chosen as the Word of the Year because of its popularity and productivity (Channel 4)

Oxford University Press has named 'omnishambles' as its Word of the Year, defining it as "a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterised by a string of blunders and miscalculations".

This word seems particularly fitting at the moment, with the BBC apparently in crisis over the mismanagement of Newsnight and its child abuse reporting or lack of it.

Every year, the OUP picks a word that reflects the mood of the last 12 months. The publishing company picks one British word and one US word.

The US Word of the Year is gif, which is short for graphics interchange format - a format for images on the internet.

Omnishambles was coined by the writers of the satirical TV show The Thick of It. It has been applied widely to blunders; from government PR mistakes to the London Olympic preparations.

The Guardian newspaper is particularly fond of the word, with two recent headlines reading: 'Tim Davie debut ensures BBComnishamblescontinues' and 'Another omnishambles - and this time it threatens me and my autistic son'.

Susie Dent, OUP lexicographer and Countdown regular, said omnishambles was picked because of its popularity and "linguistic productivity".

She said: "A notable coinage coming from thewordis Romneyshambles." Romneyshambles was coined by the British press after US presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he doubted London would be able to host a successful Olympic Games.

Other words shortlisted for the award were 'mummy porn', a term widely used following the publication of E L James' erotic novel 50 Shades of Grey, and 'green-on-blue', meaning attacks on military personnel by forces thought to be friendly.

The rest is here:
BBC Blunders: Omnishambles Named Word of the Year By Oxford University Press