Blog News

'Blog' most popular word on Web dictionary

Top 10 includes 'insurgent', 'defenestration', 'peloton'

The Associated PressUpdated: 8:25 a.m. ET  Dec. 2, 2004 

 

"Blog" is now the most popular search word in the online version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

 

Its frequent lookup paralleled its growth on the political scene this year as keepers of Web logs aggressively chronicled campaign developments they thought were undercovered or ignored by traditional media.

 

Politics dominated Merriam-Webster's top-10 list, with "incumbent," "electoral," "insurgent," "partisan," "sovereignty" and "defenestration" among the top searches.  Rounding out the list were "hurricane," "cicada" and "peloton," the main body of riders in a bicycle race.

Last year was the first that the company kept a list of the top words looked up online.  As with this year, the most popular words were frequently in the news.

Last year's winner was "democracy."

As for a blog, Merriam-Webster defines the noun as "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer."

 

We're coming of age!! I was thrilled when I read that headline.  But I have to admit - it wasn't until this summer that I knew what a blog was.  I knew about online journals, but I had no idea they were called a blog until my friend (and blog mentor) Lachlan explained the term.  For those that don't know, "blog" is simply short for "web log".  I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that "blog" was the most popular word searched on Webster's online dictionary - nobody else knew what it was, either. 

I'm hesitant to use the term in mixed company, however.  If someone were to come up to me in a crowd and ask "How's your blog?", the unknowing bystanders might think I have some terrible rash that hasn't cleared up.   They might even think a "blog" is some exotic pet or a foreign car.  I could answer them "Oh, we're trying to get our blog house broken" or could say "I just love my new blog. You should feel the way it handles the turns."  "Blog" could also be mistaken for a German drink served at Oktoberfest or maybe a musical instrument.  The possibilities are limitless.  But thanks to Webster's dictionary, now we all know what a blog is.