Who decides which word gets this singular distinction? Only the editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary. From the press release: "Only a year ago, podcasting was an arcane activity, the domain of a few techies and self-admitted geeks.* Now...thousands of podcasts are available at the iTunes Music Store and websites such as iPodder.com." Podcast will officially be added of the online update to the New Oxford American Dictionary in early 2006.
[Via iLounge]
*Some more than others, right Adam?