Word.com

January TOP TWENTY

It shouldn't come as a surprise by now that the presidential primaries are making lots of people curious — and not just about the candidates, but about political language, too. Caucus shot all the way up to the most looked-up word for the month that began with Iowa's contest. We offer you more information about caucus in this month's Words in the News. Meanwhile, here's January's Top Twenty.

Happy Birthday: 1929

In the spirit of Leap Year, with its extra day in February, we take the liberty to jump one year ahead to celebrate words first appearing 100 years ago, in 1929.

In the heyday of Prohibition, seven men associated with Bugs Moran's gang were lined up and shot in a Chicago garage. The February 14, 1929 executions, traced back to Al Capone's crew, were dubbed the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Eighty years later, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre remains well known; so too are many of the words that first appeared in print that year.

Word History of the Month: Lent

Various Christian religions began marking Lent — 40 weekdays of penitence and fasting — on Ash Wednesday, February 6. Curious about the origin of the name of the religious season?

Notable and Quotable: Edna St. Vincent Millay

American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, who was born Feb 22, 1892, famously "burned the candle at both ends." She lived, loved, and put her experiences to poetry before her death in 1950. In addition to becoming the first woman awarded a Pulitzer Prize, Millay earned a spot in the Unabridged Dictionary for 38 attributed quotations, some of which we present below.

Interested in finding words from a favorite author in the dictionary? Select either the Unabridged or the Collegiate as a reference source, and click on Advanced Search. Type the last name of the author in the Author field, and click Search.

New Word Watch

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

*  data mining noun : the practice of searching through large amounts of computerized data to find useful patterns or trends

*  infinity pool noun : an outdoor swimming pool having an edge over which water flows into a trough but seems to flow to the horizon

*  prosecco noun : [Italian, a grape variety, probably from Prosecco town near Trieste] : a dry Italian sparkling wine

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.

From the Mail Server

Forget the lovey-dovey Valentine feelings associated with February; these past few weeks have found editors answering questions from folks attempting not to feel disgruntled about gruntled and from those feeling distrustful about the meaning of cynical.

In Case You Were Wondering

In the United States, February is National Black History Month; it is also known as National African American History Month. The commemoration has its roots in Negro History Week, established by scholar Carter S. Woodson in 1926. In case you were wondering, the terms Negro, black, and African-American have each taken a turn in the spotlight in American history.

Words in the News

Caucus is one of the words that Noah Webster recorded and defined before any other lexicographer, presenting it in his very first dictionary in 1806. Like some other terms of politics and government such as presidential and selectman, caucus was new and distinctively American. But just as the current presidential races were not decided by the Iowa caucus, there is an enduring question concerning the origins of the word itself.

Language Links

The 31st annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament will be held in Brooklyn at the end of the month. The weekend-long gathering features competition by divisions, social gatherings of fellow puzzlers, and prizes galore. Cross that you won't be making it to the tourney? You can play along at home for a small fee, read up on some history and conventions of puzzle construction or study up a bit for next year's competition.