June 2006

May TOP TWENTY

P-words seemed to prevail last month, as news stories about bird flu brought pandemic back onto the list, after its one-month absence, and another p-word, plethora, always a favorite with dictionary users, also reappeared. At the same time, i-words seemed imperiled, as inept and insipid, regulars on the list for most of the past year, slipped off.

And the mysterious aloof stayed on the list at Number 16. See May's full list and some of the explanations you offered for the rise of aloof on the list.

  1. effect
  2. affect
  3. integrity
  4. love
  5. metaphor
  6. dichotomy
  7. ubiquitous
  8. irony
  9. ensure
  10. ambiguous
 
  1. facetious
  2. esoteric
  3. paradigm
  4. superfluous
  5. aloof
  6. plethora
  7. pandemic
  8. gregarious
  9. agnostic

Readers of Word.com warmly embraced the challenge to explain why aloof is being looked up more frequently in recent months. Some folks from Texas reminded us that Jeffrey Skilling, convicted in May for his role in the Enron scandal, was described as aloof by various courtroom commentators, and that could have driven interest in the word.

The most philosophical suggestion pinned the prevalence of aloof on widening gulfs dividing various political constituencies. The most personal theory proposed that, since aloof is most popular on Mondays, perhaps it's being looked up as a coda to lovers' quarrels over the weekend.

Some of a more theoretical bent suggested the "landslide effect," where the appearance of a word in one published article inspires look-ups. People begin using the word (as recently acquired knowledge), then other publications use it (because the word is in the air), and then more people look it up.

Finally, however, we like this one: "Aloof is a funny looking word . . . used frequently in writing. . . . It's just the sort of word I like to look up."


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