Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year Is...

From caffeinated meat to the Frozen Dead Guys festival

(NEWSER) - As the weirdness of 2012 begins, it's time to take a look back at the bizarre year behind us. Some of the year's oddest stories:

• In Florida, an 8-foot-tall Lego man washed up on a beach —apparently the work of a Dutch artist, not the Lego company.
• The US Army created one of the year's weirdest foods: A beef jerky stick with as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.
• Want to buy the rights to one of the country's strangest festivals? Nederland, Colo., is trying to sell off its annual Frozen Dead Guys festival.

Did the world really need a Miley Cyrus sex doll?

(NEWSER) - Hollywood has given us many, many reasons to be glad 2011 is over—including the nearly two dozen “WTF?!” moments rounded up by the Huffington Post :

• Chris Brown shatters a window in a rage after Good Morning America.
• Rebecca Black releases “Friday.” It goes on to rack up the most YouTube views of the year.
• Jim Carrey posts a creepy video love note to Emma Stone.

Hey, not everybody can be interesting: Seth Abramovitch

(NEWSER) - Needless to say, Gawker isn’t all that impressed with Barbara Walters’ annual list of the year’s 10 most fascinating people . The good news is, that didn’t stop blogger Seth Abramovitch from offering up his own list, of the year’s 10 least fascinating people, in response:

• Piers Morgan: “The turnip-headed reality star turned CNN seat-filler loves Twitter wars and speaking over his guests almost as much as no one gives a s*** about him.”
• Brett Ratner: Despite getting himself in the middle of an Oscars-related controversy this year, he “remains the least interesting filmmaker of his generation” and you probably can’t think of a single interesting scene in a movie he’s made.

Will 'Pitchfork' keep Adele from taking the crown?

(NEWSER) - It’s the end of the year, which means a glut of music sites releasing “Best Of” lists. Indie-loving Pitchfork picks the top 100 tracks of the year; here are the top 10, which include some mainstream surprises:

1. M83, “Midnight City”
2. Bon Iver, “Holocene”
3. EMA, “California”
4. Nicki Minaj, “Super Bass”
5. Real Estate, “It’s Real”
6. Destroyer, “Kaputt”
7. Beyoncé, “Countdown"
8. Cass McCombs, “County Line”
9. Azealia Banks, “212”
10. DJ Khaled, “I’m On One” (Feat. Drake, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne)

Foreign Policy lists 10 quiet but essential world events

(NEWSER) - What events and trends flew under the radar in 2011 but could erupt into massive headline-grabbers in 2012? Foreign Policy rounds up the top 10 "stories you missed" this year.

1. India grows its military: India is now the globe's leading weapons importer, accounting for nearly 1 in 10 international arms transfers.
2. The euro's allure fades: Eastern European countries once excited to join the euro zone are balking. Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Latvia have all postponed. So much for the euro fixing their economic problems.