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Merriam-Webster on TwitterFollow Merriam-Webster on Twitter for daily observations about language and words in the news, including insights into the most looked up words on Merriam-Webster.com and discourse on new words and language trends. Receive tweets about fresh editorial content on the newly redesigned Merriam-Webster.com, with features like Trend Watch and Word Well Used, which highlights interesting vocabulary effectively used by the world's leading news and entertainment publications. September 2010Summer Top TwentyIt was a long, hot summer – and one very rich in vocabulary! The most looked-up word all summer was a word that is not in the dictionary: refudiate, the malaprop used by former Gov. Sarah Palin on television and Twitter. The word caused much comment and provoked much research – putting the word repudiate in the Summer Top Twenty as well. Unsurprisingly, the Gulf oil spill and blockbuster films also provided some of the summer's biggest lookups. Word History of the Month: conundrumThe word conundrum is a perennial on the Top 20 list – including this summer's list. Many words that are among the most looked-up on a daily basis are abstract terms with classical roots (think integrity or ubiquitous). Conundrum would seem to fit right in with them. But does it? Something about the word is unsettling – enough for people to be constantly looking it up – and perhaps a bit mysterious. Notable and Quotable: D.H. LawrenceD.H. Lawrence was born September 11, 1885. Long troubled by ill health, the poet, critic, and novelist (Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Sons and Lovers) died at 44. Samples of his writing appear at some five dozen entries in the Unbridged, the more colorful of them included here. (When was the last time you encountered "everywhere" used as a noun?). Interested in seeing all the examples of a particular writer? Select the Collegiate or the Unabridged as your reference, click on Advanced Search, type in the surname of the writer in the Author Quoted box, and click on Search. From the Mail ServerThis month, editors heard from someone zealous about the need to add a new word to the lexicon, from another person looking for the rich story behind the word cheapskate, and from a set of correspondents eager to understand the rule that distinguishes vowels from consonants. modoofree bt bt junkie using bt on cable broadband 6658 otis court arvada co 80003bt cotton companies in india bt universal freephone deepak chopra perfect health vatabt hub phone calls broadband handsets free bt software for sony mobile carrera cup series regulationsmercury and solace bt 12 mastermix emergency broadcastbt mail yahoo stabilizer for yamaha bt 1100 bt broadband pppoe nasrina bt mohd rabik formal versus informal control systemsbt telephone directoy the roots and bt bt communications ireland limited rare old boomboxesbt online faults greenlight worm killer bt msds fallacy review sheetbt may books bt danny proulx bt thomson 4 50 mm hoop earringsbt spine mastek bt download in china metrologic voyager bt usb bt hosted services tif and ole objektbt digital photo frame 31248 bt plc stallscatapillar attack bt remember cert checkbox default settingtornado made famous bt tv crew stagingbt crump company bt answerphone response 300 bt home hub username and password bt voyager 205 drivers downloads pistonbt billing errors uv inhibitor for bt spraying ex bt racking equipment anne-marie sheppard hb studiosbt savp bt television bt user name sony bt 5100b bt voyager usb adsl modem driver bt toxin allergies bt retirement selection ittcomputacenter bt bt voyager 190 modem uk bt empire ttf dusty bt normal iron level in blood countwhat is bt toxin ipc-4101 30 bt bt enquiries controllersbt wire grade bt vista drivers bt helper v1.3 cor pulmonaldai-guard bt 2002 gulfstream bt cruiser 22 whispering firs golf course2002 gulfstream bt bt investors bt apex barrel bt broadband support pt barnum bt font swis721 ltcn bt 923 broadway blvd se albuquerque nmbt fuze hood ornament bt 466 vocational education journalbt small business web site bt suks quote organizer deluxe 2.3bt yahoo mail sign in bt crystal proteins bt home hub 2 80211n speed orchids and orgasms lyonsbt transmission seal handelgothic bt cue ball wizardnai bt commercial how to stop bt shaping antlantis submarines barbadosbt tickets calligraph421 bt gold bug gold recover concentratebt explorer java bt telecom northampton uk bt spine interceptbt paintball designs bt paintball gun bt hme hub address caller id spoof freebt touring cruiser Happy Birthday 1666The Great Fire of London began raging on September 2, 1666. 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Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate." 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For starters, refudiate is not (yet) in the dictionary. Then there was the controversy over subsequent tweets from Gov. Palin, first changing refudiate to repudiate, and then defending her coinage, invoking Shakespeare: "English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!"Language watchers debated whether refudiate was a portmanteau or a malapropism. The blend is easy to figure out (refute or refuse + repudiate). But what's the story on malapropism? Just Foolin' AroundChristopher Nolan's hit movie Inception propelled the word inception to #2 on the Summer Top Twenty. The word inception – which stresses the notion of commencing or beginning without any implication about cause – has an ancestor in capere, Latin for to take. Taking a minute to fool around with the Latin verb capere turns up more than three dozen other English words with capere in their background. Language LinksInterest in refudiate reminds us of the eggcorn. An eggcorn is a sort of "nonce folk etymology" coinage – a word coined through a logical reshaping of an unfamiliar word. For example, someone who has never seen the word acorn in print might well guess the word is eggcorn from its pronunciation. Eggcorns, unlike malapropisms, make sense. But unlike words coined through folk etymology, eggcorns are not recognized as "real" words. (For more on malapropisms and Folk Etymology, just click on those highlighted words in the previous sentence.) For a list of common eggcorns, check out the Eggcorn Database. The "About" section includes an explanation distinguishing eggcorns from folk etymology and mondegreens (some time ago Language Links featured links to collections of the related mondegreen). Back to Top |