Prediction: The American Dialect Society in January 2012 Will Select "Kick the Can" as the 2011 Word of the Year.
August 3, 2011
The American Dialect Society in the month of January meets annually. It selects the word of the year for the previous year. This can be a phrase.
On January 7, 2011, the ADS selected "app" for 2010.
I do not see how anything can beat "kick the can." I have 2.1 trillion reasons for this -- maybe 2.4 trillion.