September's TOP TWENTY

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the controversies that followed, refugee topped the list of most-frequently looked-up words by a wide margin. In fact, refugee had more look-ups than any other word has ever received in a one-month period. For more on refugee, see this month’s Word Profile.

The full list also includes levee and hurricane, as well as clear evidence that school is back in session.

Words in the News

Katrina and Rita created interest in a wide variety of storm-related words, including typhoon, gouging, dysentery, hunker, and breach. Dick Cheney’s aneurysm and John Roberts’ thoughts on stare decisis also prompted look-ups. Read the whole story, including some tests of spelling skills in the month’s words.

Happy 45th Birthday

Back in October 1960, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy proposed the concept of American volunteers working in underdeveloped nations. The Peace Corps wasn’t the only new term on the lexical scene back then; this month we highlight two dozen terms that turn 45 this year.

And for a complete list of the more than 100 words dating to 1960, go to the Collegiate Dictionary, click on Advanced Search and type 1960 in the Date field.

New Word Watch

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

*   biodiesel noun: a fuel that is similar to diesel fuel and is derived usually from vegetable sources (as soybean oil)

*   drama queen noun: a person given to often excessively emotional performances or reactions

*   phishing noun [alteration (influenced by phreaking) of fishing] : a scam by which an e-mail user is duped into revealing personal or confidential information which the scammer can use illicitly

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.

Beyond the Dictionary: aneurysm

October is National Medical Librarian’s Month, which is appropriate as interest in medical terms is running high. Aneurysm, dysentery, and triage were just a few of the frequently looked-up medical terms last month. Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary, newly available to Merriam-Webster Unabridged subscribers, offers particularly good coverage of these words, as well as 60,000 more words.

Word Profile: refugee

Hurricane Katrina was a meteorological storm, but it also created a linguistic storm of controversy over the use of the word refugee. And like Katrina, this was a Category Five storm. During the height of the controversy, refugee was being looked up approximately 1,000 times an hour. The dictionary itself provided most of the answer, but here’s the rest of the story.

Notable and Quotable

American lexicographer Noah Webster, born in 1758, and Irish writer Oscar Wilde, born in 1854, share an October 16 birthday. Webster tracked language but Wilde toyed with it. That may explain why Webster is quoted only three times in the Webster’s Third, while the witty Wilde appears 86 times. Here’s a small collection of some colorful Wilde words, and a few from Noah.

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.

To Coin a Phrase

Next month’s off-year elections haven’t generated much commentary from the pundits, which may be why we have yet to hear whispers about an October Surprise, a political term that turns 25 years old this month. Read the story.

From the Mail Server

Irony consistently appears on our list of most-looked-up words. But when a definition didn’t suffice, one language lover wrote in for a more in-depth explication. Another reader challenged the editors to explain why a dictionary would stoop to include the so-called word irregardless. And a third correspondent sought help unraveling the meaning of the mysterious mummie.

Need some assistance puzzling out the meaning of trickier words? Treat yourself to the Language Research Service available at lrs@merriam-webster.com.

Word Histories of the Month: diaspora and exodus

Among the many differences between Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we noted this: the dispersal of Katrina survivors was dubbed a diaspora, while folks fleeing Rita were considered part of an exodus. Diaspora and exodus are both Greek terms born in biblical times, and this month we look into their stories, drawn from entries in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia.

Just Foolin' Around

The first German Oktoberfest dates back to Munich, 1810. These days, more than one million gallons of beer are consumed during the annual two week Bavarian festival that begins in September and concludes on the first Sunday in October. Want to participate vicariously? Click here.