PRIVACY. Selfie. Geek. Science. Four dictionary publishers each selected one of those words as its word of the year for 2013. But it’s tough to catalog the preoccupations of the year in a single word. There were many flying around that seemed to capture a moment, an emotion, a thought, a new way of doing or describing things, or the larger zeitgeist. Some were new, some not so new, but they all seemed to say something about the times. Here are a few:

AG-GAG LAW n. Legislation that restricts the use of undercover video in places where food animals are raised or slaughtered. From agriculture + gag law.

AIR GAP n. The space surrounding a computing device that is disconnected from all networks, which can protect it from digital attacks. But one security researcher claims the air gap can be defeated by malware that transmits data encoded in high-frequency sounds out of computer speakers and into the microphones of nearby computers.

BAE n. Spelling representation of a dialect pronunciation of babe or baby. The catchphrase “bae caught me slippin” (meaning, “My baby caught me sleeping”) came into vogue as a caption to photographs taken by people pretending to be asleep.

BITCOIN n. An anonymous, decentralized, digital, encrypted currency and payment system.

BOSTON STRONG n. A catchphrase and slogan used to show solidarity after the Boston Marathon bombing in April.