Iraq in the unconscious

Most Used Word, Phrase, name 2003 yourDictionary.com

'Embedded' -- as in reporters assigned to accompany military units during the Iraq war -- beat out 'blog' and 'SARS' as the top word of 2003, according to us website yourDictionary.com. Previous top words include 2000's 'chad' (from the hanging squares of paper on Florida presidential ballots), 2001's 'Ground Zero' (where the World Trade Center collapsed) and 2002's 'misunderestimate' (a 'Bushism').

'Shock-and-awe', the phrase the us used to describe its Iraq campaign, edged out other Iraq-related terms like 'rush to war', 'weapons of mass destruction' and 'spider-hole' as the top phrase of 2003.

The name most spoken in 2003 was Saddam Hussein, followed Ah-nold (California's governor).

The site's lists are created by taking nominations from users around the world, then having them judged by "professional wordsmiths". As for 2004, there is already an early contender: 'Mad cow'.