May's Top Twenty

To no one's surprise, filibuster was the big word in May, jumping to the No. 2 spot among the most frequently looked up words on Merriam-Webster Online. The surprise word of the month was inept, which jumped from relative obscurity to the No. 8 spot.

Get the full Top Twenty word list—and more on the curious case of inept.

Words in the News

While filibuster was the big story in May, it wasn't the only word in the news. The Michael Jackson trial, the debate in the Senate, and the release of the new Star Wars movie succeeded in propelling sociopath, dilatory, and sith into the ranks of the most looked up. Find out more details!

Beyond the Dictionary: Quran or Koran

Transliterating the name of Islam's sacred scripture from the Arabic into the Roman alphabet gives us more than one spelling, and that's just the beginning of what most of us don't know about this holy book.

Learn more and see the article on Quran from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia, available online to all Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Merriam-Webster Collegiate subscribers.

Word Profile: inept

It's the kind of word that is frequently looked up (reminiscent of last month's insipid), but up until April 28th, it seldom cracked the top 100 words. But since late April—and for reasons not at all clear to us—it's been in the top ten almost every day. Get to know a little more about inept.

Notable and Quotable

Saul Bellow and Dorothy Sayers both have birthdays in June (Bellow would have turned ninety). By odd coincidence, they are also both quoted at the same entry in Webster's Third—gink. Never heard of gink? Don't feel bad; neither had we. See these quotes and others from Bellow and Sayers.

Finding quotations from an author is easy. Just choose your reference—the Unabridged Dictionary or the Collegiate Dictionary—and click on Advanced Search. Type the name of the author in the Author Quoted box and click on Search.

From the Mail Server

This month the editors were asked why a word found in a mystery novel can't be found in the Collegiate Dictionary and whether the definition of acronym in the Collegiate is A-OK? In addition, a writer in the Navy wrote in to check on the word personnel, while a couple wondered if you can have one troop?

If you have a question for the editors, do what other word lovers do: send it to Comments@Word.com.

Language Links

Looking for linguistic fun on the Web? We can point you to a couple of neat sites, one with new words and the other with old ones.

Just Foolin' Around

Well before George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith came out people were trying to look up sith in the dictionary. You won’t find this use of sith in any dictionary just yet, but it does almost sound like English. Why? See what happens when we fool around with sith.

To Coin a Phrase: stonewall

The recent revelation about the identity of Deep Throat prompts memories of this quintessential piece of Watergate-related vocabulary. Coincidentally, this month also marks the 36th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. See how a fence made of stone developed its allusive quality.

The Puzzle Corner

Last month we asked you to submit your favorite Tom Swifties, a particularly low form of pun in which the adverb plays on the rest of the sentence. This month we thank all who sent in submissions, and we pass along a few fill-in-the-blanks for those who can't get enough of these groaners.