And the winner is . . .

Wuzzam! This is the word that won the National Post’s coin-a-phrase contest.

I am not-so-secretly pleased that “wuzzam” won since it was conceived right here on my blog exactly nine months ago.

The proud father (er, author) is none other than Hot Rob. That’s right. Canada’s newest word was coined by a former catalogue model with a level of intellectual sophistication that rivals that of a drunken frat boy.

So what does wuzzam mean exactly? Technically speaking, it is a verb used as a response to a question indicating that you were and still are in the same condition. In other words, it’s a lazy way of saying “I was and still am.”

Here is an excerpt from the story in yesterday’s National Post, which (ahem!) credits my blog as the birthplace of Canada’s newest word:

You might remember the coiner of wuzzam from a Nov. 11, 2005 story under the headline "Beauty's burden: Would you date a man this hot?" Robert Funk is a 34-year-old former catalogue model who called a Vancouver radio station when he heard the hosts talking about people too good looking to get dates. Funk, a.k.a. "Hot Rob," said girls broke up with him because when he walks into a room "everyone notices me."

The radio station, Z95.3, decided to try and set Funk up with a lady who would see past his appearance. It turned into the station's most popular contest with many listeners registering their disgust over Funk's vanity. Normally, this would be where the story ended, but it so happened that one of those mocking Funk was blogger Sarah Marchildon. At the same time she was writing about how unhot Hot Rob was, she was also conducting her own coin-a-word contest.

His peanut butter fell into her chocolate, as it were, and, well, here's his post:

"Wuzzam: I was, still am and will continue to be what you heard about me. This is in direct response to the old 'has been' question: when people ask about your past. 'I heard you were a model.' The proper response is, 'Yes I was, and I still am (wuzzam).' There is only one exception to this word --ex-high-school football stars."

There you have it, not only is Robert Funk hot, but he is also witty.

Wuzzam.