The word 'culture' has been named as 2014 word of the year by Merriam-Webster on their smartphone app.

The word 'nostalgia' was kept at number two by giving a tribute to 50th anniversaries pegged to 1964 which was the start of the free speech movement, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the birth of the Ford Mustang and the British Invasion heralded by the landing of the Beatles on US soil for the first time, Fox News reported.

'Insidious', 'legacy', 'feminism' and a rare French multiword phrase "je ne sais quoi" [meaning whatever] were next in the list.

Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster, said that they were simply using the word culture more frequently and it may or may not be a fad and it may simply be evolution.

(dna)