Word of the Year

Topping vet, socialism, maverick, and bipartisan, bailout has emerged as Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2008. “Bailout, defined in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition as ‘a rescue from financial distress,’ received the highest intensity of lookups on Merriam-Webster Online over the shortest period of time,” the dictionary team reports. Rounding out the rest of the top ten were trepidation, precipice, rogue, misogyny, and turmoil. The presidential campaign and financial meltdown were evidently on the minds of visitors to Merriam-Webster’s online site throughout the year. By contrast, 2007’s top pick—w00t, which means “to triumph over” or “an interjection expressing joy”—seems like a flashback of those halcyon days.