Merriam-Webster reports that the word most frequently looked up on its online dictionary was “blog.” Old Media beware.
“Blog” began appearing in newspapers and magazines in 1999, according to the publisher’s records. Merriam’s lexicographers suspect the prominence blogs attained during the presidential campaigns and conventions this year sent people scrambling for a definition.
“It does sometimes happen that words in the headlines so grab people’s attention that they become a most-frequently-looked-up word,” said John M. Morse, president and publisher of Springfield-based Merriam-Webster.