If we compare this month's list to last April's list (and factor out the effects of the Virginia Tech tragedy), we see that the words that have fallen from the list were abstractions (words such as metaphor, ubiquitous, and egregious), while many of the words on the list this April apply largely to people: apathetic, mature, cantankerous, pugnacious, aloof.

Even the word politic, the most looked-up word this month, is sometimes used to describe people (as in, "a politic statesman," meaning "one who is skillful or ingenious in statecraft"). With the election dominating the headlines this may not be coincidental — perhaps personal issues are dominating many parts of our lives these days. What does it say about this moment in time that the big ideas of abstraction have given way to specific and individual terms of description?