Merriam-Webster Announces ‘Bailout’ As 2008 Word Of The Year

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ — Merriam-Webster Inc., America’s
leading language reference publisher, has announced the year’s top ten words
and definitions as culled from its popular Web site Merriam-Webster OnLine (www.Merriam-Webster.com). The 2008 Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year list
is based on users’ anonymous hits to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and
Online Thesaurus.

The word of the year that received the highest intensity of lookups over
the shortest period of time is “bailout,” defined in Merriam-Webster’s
Collegiate(R) Dictionary, Eleventh Edition as: “a rescue from financial
distress.”

“Typically our online dictionary lookups are for slightly difficult but
still generic nonspecialized vocabulary,” said John M. Morse, president and
publisher of Merriam-Webster Inc., “but a word in the headlines can grab
people’s attention to become a most frequently looked-up word. This year’s
presidential campaign produced voluminous hits for words like ‘vet,’
‘bipartisan,’ ‘misogyny,’ and the word used to describe both candidates on the
Republican ticket, ‘maverick.’”

One of the biggest event-related words of this election year and holder of
the #3 spot is “socialism.” “This word seems to have had two back-to-back
boosts,” said Mr. Morse. “The first was the question of whether federal
bailouts of large banks were tantamount to socialism, and the second was ‘Joe
the Plumber’ and other critics saying that U.S. presidential candidate Barack
Obama’s economic plan was a form of socialism.”

Traffic to Merriam-Webster OnLine now exceeds 125 million individual page
views per month. On average, the company responds to approximately ten lookup
requests in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary or Thesaurus per second.
During peak hours, this may increase to more than 100 requests per second.

For the complete list of Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year, including
definitions, please visit http://www.Merriam-Webster.com/info/08words.htm.
For additional information on the selection process, or to arrange an
interview on this topic with Merriam-Webster’s Editor at Large Peter
Sokolowski, please contact Arthur J. Bicknell, Senior Publicist, at the below
address.

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Merriam-Webster Inc. acquired the rights to revise and publish Noah
Webster’s dictionaries in 1843. Since then, Merriam-Webster has maintained an
ongoing commitment to innovation, scholarship, and love of language. Today,
the company continues as the leader in both print and electronic language
reference publishing with reference products, learning tools, and word games.
For more information about the company, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, or the new Merriam-Webster’s Advanced Learner’s
English Dictionary, visit Merriam-Webster OnLine at www.Merriam-Webster.com.

    CONTACT:
    Arthur Bicknell, Senior Publicist
    Merriam-Webster Inc.
    Phone: (413) 734-3134 ext. 119
    E-mail: abicknell@Merriam-Webster.com

SOURCE Merriam-Webster Inc.