The Oxford American Dictionary (it's a special book for words like color and aluminum ;-) ) has announced it's Word of the Year 2008: Hypermiling.

“Hypermiling” was coined in 2004 by Wayne Gerdes, who runs this web site. “Hypermiling” or “to hypermile” is to attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques. Rather than aiming for good mileage or even great mileage, hypermilers seek to push their gas tanks to the limit and achieve hypermileage, exceeding EPA ratings for miles per gallon.

Countries other than America have been "hypermiling" since cars were invented - we simply call it driving efficiently - but it's good to see the US are starting to see things a bit clearer in the world of motoring.

Now how long before we start seeing the likes of the Smart Car or GeeWhiz or even your humble Ford Fiesta on US roads?