'We hate you guys, but there is nothing much we can do.'
LUO PING, a director general at China's Banking Regulatory Commission, saying Beijing will continue to buy U.S. Treasury bonds despite concerns about the dollar. China has nearly $2 trillion in foreign-currency reserves --FEBRUARY
'They should see it like a weekend of camping.'
SILVIO BERLUSCONI, Italy's Prime Minister, on the thousands of people rendered homeless by an April 6 earthquake that also killed more than 300 in the central Italian town of L'Aquila --APRIL
'Every single Iranian is valuable. The government is at everyone's service. We like everyone.'
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, President of Iran, who had previously likened citizens protesting the results of the nation's disputed presidential election to "dirt and dust" --JUNE
'It will be his Waterloo. It will break him.'
JIM DEMINT, Republican Senator from South Carolina, comparing President Barack Obama's bid to overhaul the nation's health care system to the battle that dethroned Napoléon Bonaparte --JULY
'My husband is not Secretary of State. I am.'
HILLARY CLINTON, snapping at a student who asked during a press conference in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, what "Mr. Clinton" thought of a Chinese loan offer to the country. According to State Department officials, the student said afterward that he had meant to ask what "Mr. Obama" thought of the potential deal --AUGUST
'I really don't feel that there's currently liberty and justice for all.'
WILL PHILLIPS, a 10-year-old Arkansas boy who refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school because he has gay friends who are not afforded equal rights --NOVEMBER
'Don't hold your breath.'
VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian Prime Minister, when asked whether he had any plans to retire soon. Putin says he is considering another bid for the presidency, in 2012 --DECEMBER
BUZZWORDS OF 2009
Sexting n.--Sending lewd messages or photos via cell phone
USAGE: "Because sexting cases are so new, local communities across the country vary greatly in their handling, from filing child pornography charges against the teenagers involved to alerting parents and letting them deal with it." --New York Times, MARCH 25, 2009
Birthers n.--Conspiracy theorists who deny Barack Obama was born in the U.S.
USAGE: "The birther movement may be premised on a fictional belief, but it is savvy: birthers now wear the term as a badge of honor, as if they were a persecuted minority." --Atlantic, JULY 21, 2009
Death panel n.--A fictional group alleged to be in charge of rationing care in health care reform proposals
USAGE: "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide ... whether they are worthy of health care." --Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor, AUG. 7, 2009
Green shoots n.--Signs of economic recovery