July's TOP TWENTY

July’s peloton of words whizzes by, and up at the front of the pack is … peloton. Just as it did last summer, the Tour de France leads to a tour du dictionnaire, or at least a tour of the entry for peloton.

Follow the rankings to see who dropped back and who moved up—and hear a few more thoughts about inept.

Words in the News

Bombings in London, contempt charges against reporter Judith Miller, and a Microsoft announcement were among the stories that sent people to the dictionary. Here's the scoop.

Beyond the Dictionary: stoicism and contempt

The July 7 bombings of the London transit system reminded some observers of fortitude and the stoicism of Londoners during the World War II bombings. Learn more about stoicism from an article in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia, available online to all Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Merriam-Webster Collegiate subscribers.

Throughout the month, people talked about the civil contempt charges against reporter Judith Miller and looked the word up in the dictionary. To broaden your understanding of the many ways in which one can be in contempt, check out the entry for contempt in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia.

Happy 60th Birthday

The events of August 1945 brought World War II to an end, but 1945 also marked the birth of words like A-bomb, frogman, and sonar. We salute the occasion with this list of more than two dozen wartime terms that date to 1945.

New Word Watch

Merriam-Webster editors are giving the following words serious consideration for entry in a Merriam-Webster dictionary:

• agritourism noun [agriculture + tourism] : the practice of touring agricultural areas to see farms and often to participate in farm activities
• DEFCON noun [defense condition] : any of five levels of U.S. military defense readiness ranked according to the perceived threat to national security
• labelmate noun : a singer or musician who records for the same company as another

Do you have a suggestion for a word we should be watching for? E-mail us at Comments@Word.com, and we’ll tell you what we have on that word so far.

Word Profile: peloton

Last month, American cyclist Lance Armstrong led the peloton to his seventh victory in the Tour de France. Non-riders flocked to the site to check out the definition of peloton. Read a profile of July’s third-most-looked-up entry for the full story on a word that is nearly as French as the Tour.

Notable and Quotable

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born August 30, 1797. Her first and best-known novel, Frankenstein, gave our language the word Frankenstein. It also gave the editors of Webster’s Third copious material for examples of words used in context—assembled here.

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

From the Mail Server

Summertime living may be easy, but the questions keep rolling in. Our editors recently fielded questions about the origin of the blockbuster movie, the curious absence of a refreshing gingery drink from the Collegiate Dictionary, and the name for that bump in the road that has moved so many summer travelers.

If you have a question for the editors, do what other word lovers do: send it to Comments@Word.com. In the mean time, catch up on the replies to other readers' questions.

Language Links

Merriam-Webster was pleased this summer to receive a visit from members of the Dictionary Society of North America. The visit reminded us that readers of Word.com might like to visit the DSNA Web site (http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/dsna/). At the site you will find information about the society, back issues of the DSNA newsletter, and a nice collection of interesting links.

Just Foolin' Around

The dog days of summer find plenty of folks seeking relief in cold desserts. The dictionary can help—here's a taste.