January TOP TWENTY

Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year, announced back in December continued to attract interest, as six of the Top Twenty spots went to Words of the Year. Of those, filibuster came in highest at No. 2, surely aided by ongoing discussion about the Alito nomination.

See January’s full list and find out what perennial member of the list is finally a no-show.

Happy 200th Birthday

According to some sources, Noah Webster published his very first dictionary — A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language — in February of 1806. Two hundred years later, we share the definition of compendious and pass along a few of the words that first appeared in print in 1806.

You can see all 89 entries whose print debut dates to 1806 by selecting the Collegiate Dictionary, clicking on Advanced Search, typing 1806 in the Date field, and hitting SEARCH.

New Word Watch

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

• metanoia noun : a transformative change of heart; especially : a spiritual conversion
• peeps noun, plural [by shortening & alteration] slang : human beings making up a group or assembly or linked by a common interest
• spyware noun : software that is installed in a computer without the user's knowledge and that transmits information about the user's computer activities over the Internet

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.

To Coin a Phrase

On February 2, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so according to tradition, we’re due for another 6 weeks of winter. That’s bad news for most folks, but no one would dream of shooting the messenger.

Notable and Quotable

Why not mark Presidents’ Day with a visit to the Unabridged Dictionary? We pulled out a selection of quotations (some familiar, others less so) from Presidents Washington and Lincoln as examples of words used in context.

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.

Too Good to Have Missed

January 9 was Word Nerd Day. In case you missed it, here's the link to the transcript—and the audio—of that day's broadcast of Word for the Wise, the nationally syndicated radio program about words, produced at WAMC in Albany, with support from Merriam-Webster.

Just Foolin’ Around

February is not the only word whose proper pronunciation is a matter for debate. Interested in checking out other words in that group? Choose the Collegiate Dictionary, click on Advanced Search and then, in the Usage Paragraph box, type pronunciation and enter. You can preview the results right here.

From the Mail Server

Editors have been answering questions ranging from topical (what exactly is a unitary executive?) to the historically philosophical (who was Occam and what's this about his razor?) On a lighter note, a reader thumbing through the dictionary tried to put his finger on what might be missing from the etymology of banana.

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

Language Links

Fans of the rebus—a representation of words or syllables by pictures of objects or by symbols whose names resemble the intended words or syllables in sound—can find plenty of such riddles online. Here’s a sampling.

Puzzle Corner

Here's an easy game for dictionary lovers. One player asks a question; the second player defines it by its answer. Click here to find out more.