April TOP TWENTY

Three longtime list stalwarts fell off the list this month—pandemic, contempt, and filibuster. The events that prompt look-ups of these words are none too pleasant, so we don't regret their passing. In their place, we welcome some returning words—esoteric and conundrum—and a new one, a conundrum in itself, aloof.

To see April's full list and our musing on aloof, click here.

Words in the News: decider

President Bush made the news on April 18 when he addressed critics with the words "I'm the decider, and I decide what is best." Read on to see how dictionary users reacted.

Looking Back: 1787

May 25th is the anniversary of the opening of the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia in 1787, and some of the words entering the language that year reflect that event. Our look back includes a look at some of the 82 terms that date from that year and at the role Noah Webster played at the convention.

For a complete list of the 82 terms that made their print debut in 1787, select the Collegiate Dictionary, click on Advanced Search, type 1787 in the Date field, and hit Search.

New Word Watch

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

*  arm candy noun : a young attractive person who accompanies a usually older person at social events

*  ollie noun [Ollie, nickname of Alan Gelfand born 1963 U.S. skateboarder] 1 : a maneuver in skateboarding in which the skater kicks the tail of the board down while jumping in order to make the board pop into the air 2 : a maneuver in snowboarding in which the rider transfers weight from the front to the back foot to snap the board up off the ground — ollie verb

*  technopreneur noun [techno- + entrepreneur] : an entrepreneur whose business involves high technology

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.

Notable and Quotable: Alexander Pope

May is the birth month and the death month for Alexander Pope. The English poet lived only 56 years (1688-1744), but his prolific output and artful use of language earned him more than 100 quotations in Merriam-Webster's Unabridged. We've gathered some of the more unusual quotations used to illustrate words or senses that are either archaic or obsolete.

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

Beyond the Dictionary: genocide

The ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands and has left another two million people homeless. In September 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell labeled the killings genocide; last month's protests over the conflict moved that word to the 77th position on the most-looked-up list.

Learn more about this term from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia.

Just Foolin’ Around

On the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), Mexicans and Mexican-Americans celebrate the day in 1862 when badly outnumbered Mexicans routed the French army of Napoleon III at Puebla. In honor of the day, we tried out a number of searches with interesting results.

From the Mail Server

Over the past month, our editors were happy to respond to word lovers who waxed philosophic and wandered into the world of science fiction words.

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

To Coin a Phrase: the mother of all . . .

May is the mother of all months for presenting gifts to mothers. The term the mother of all, however, is far older than Mother's Day itself, at least in Arabic. Read the story, as taken from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions.

Language Links

What's in a name? Maybe more than you think. Here are a few links that let you explore the question.