Cloud computing is one of the most popular yet confusing technological buzzwords used by society this year, an Austin, Texas, group said Thursday.

The Global Language Monitor said in a news release the term, which portrays the Internet as a cloud accessed through programs and services, is one of 2008's most confusing yet popular techisms.

Other top 2008 buzzwords, the group said, are green washing and, appropriately, buzzword compliant.

Green washing refers to the marketing of a product in a way that its flaws appear environmentally friendly. Buzzword compliant represents the use of new buzzwords in marketing to make a product appeal to customers.

Monitor President Paul JJ Payack said the three top phrases, along with equally confusing terms like de-duping and versioning, are becoming more immersed in general society despite a lack of understanding by most people of their true definition.

"The words we use in high technology continue to become even more obtuse even as they move out of the realm of jargon and into the language at large," he said.