The greased-up stars of MTV's Jersey Shore went from being anonymous beach bunnies to getting shoutouts from Sen. John McCain on Twitter – on Monday, McCain wished Jersey Shore star Nicole Polizzi, better known by her nickname Snooki, a happy birthday.
The most lasting impact of the TV show may be the introduction of the words "guido" and "guidette" – often used to describe Snooki and her partying cohorts – into mainstream English and the No. 5 spot on the top words list.
Meanwhile, the tea party political movement bumped the phrase "tea party," previously associated with a colonial act of rebellion against the British, out of American history books, into the news cycle of the 2010 midterm elections – and onto the No. 5 spot on the top phrases list.
