We're fortunate to work in an area of great historical interest in London's old east end and as I wander the old streets around W+K Towers I'm often prompted to think what it must have been like to live and work around here hundreds of years ago.

Above is a description of a Whitsuntide holiday visit to Spitalfields, the neighbourhood in which Wieden + Kennedy London's office is situated, published in the New Monthly Magazine in June 1833. You can read the whole article in Google books here. It describes the area as being like a foreign country, inhabited by an alien race, and paints a grim picture of a holiday with 'an entire absence of mirth and enjoyment' and homes where 'wretchedness is there and is the hard landlord of their hearths'.

Things have changed. A bit. But no doubt some toiling W+K workers will sympathise with these words:

'The young men of this dismal region of distress and excessive labour have at twenty the look and apparent wear of thirty.'

Everyone's doing end of year lists at the moment, so here's a W2O list of words that will very soon seem soooooooo 2009.

Bosh

Word used to express satisfaction in accomplishment of a task. "I've only gone and cracked the whole mobile computing campaign for the next three years. Bosh!"

Boom

Like bosh, only more so. "The client thought my powerpoint was totally awesome. Boom!"

Donk

Sub-genre of house music, also known as 'scouse house', named for distinctive beat sound. Also applied to advertising. "Is there any way to rescue this hopeless concept?" "Put a donk on it."

Swede

Reference to utilisation of Scandinavian interactive gurus. "What's our strategy for earned media?" "Put a Swede on it."

Tweet

Small cry of despair from place of work. "Are you tweeting from the meeting?"

Mobflashing (sic)

All-purpose word used to describe real-world behaviour stimulated by mobile content. "If we tweet this, can we get people mob-flashing?"

Meerkat

Simples!

Barley

Derived from the Nathan Barley TV series. Adjective used to describe anything embarrassingly pretentious and wanky in the Shoreditch/Spitalfields area. "Fixed wheel bikes are a bit Barley." "Nic, those trousers make you look totally Barley."

Recession

Actually, this one may carry on in use into 2010.

Any more suggestions for 2009 words of the year?