The logophiles behind Merriam-Webster have
released their list of the most looked-up words of 2012, and at the top
is an odd couple: "
socialism" and "
capitalism." It's the first time two
words have shared the title, but the decision was a "no-brainer,"
because they so often came up during the election and health care
debate, says editor at large Peter Sokolowski. Some other tidbits from
the list, from
the AP:
-
"Malarkey" enjoyed the largest single-word spike of the year by
percentage in a 24-hour period (3,000) after Joe Biden used it during
his debate with Paul Ryan.
-
Other politically charged terms that made the 2012 list: democracy,
globalization, marriage, and bigot. You can thank the gay marriage
debate for those last two.
- Look-ups for the word "meme" more
than doubled since last year, in part thanks to the rapid-fire memes
(think Big Bird and binders) that came out of the election. The word's
creator, Richard Dawkins, is "delighted," though he originally coined
the term well before the Internet came to be.
- Those who got a
kick out of Mitt Romney supporters' post-election sorrow may have been
among the many who looked up "schadenfreude," a German term that
describes the enjoyment of others' despair.
- One non-political word on Merriam-Webster's list: "touche," which was hilariously misused by a contestant on Survivor to mean "tough luck" rather than "good point."
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