A short article on the words most often looked up, this year, on MW's site. The words include kerfuffle, fungible, promiscuous and trifecta.

The first is pretty obscure, the second is a word I've looked up several times, the third is pretty common and shouldn't really require a lookup, and the fourth is almost always used in a context where it is completely clear.

For example, when a player shoots a 3 point basket, Dick Vitale might yell "He hit the trifecta".

We've talked about fungible several times here (this is an example of a good discussion; Tinman did a lot of research on it), and it is often misused. In that link, Afghanistan loyalties being described as "fungible" is certainly not an accurate use of the word.

quote:

Originally posted by Seanahan:
The first is pretty obscure, the second is a word I've looked up several times, the third is pretty common and shouldn't really require a lookup, and the fourth is almost always used in a context where it is completely clear.

Just shows how we all differ. For me the first is an ordinary everyday word that I've used thousands, if not millions, of times in my normal speech. The second I know mostly from previous discussions here. The third, I agree, is entirely commonplace and the fourth I have never heard in my life.

Indeed.
Kerfuffle is a common word for me, which I wouldn't have thought needed looking-up by most English-speakers.
Promiscuous is similar, but I suppose some might have difficulty with the spelling.
Fungible is fairly rare, but we've discussed it here before. I can see why it should be looked up often.
Trifecta seems to be used only in the US, Australia, and NZ. I had to look it up, like Bob. I'd guess that most people who didn't know it were from the UK.

Kerfuffle seems to me to be a Britishism. I know it, but don't use it myself. I've heard trifecta but don't really know what it means.

I went to the Web site and found these words (in that order) were those most frequently looked up in 2005:

integrity
refugee
contempt
filibuster
insipid
tsunami
pandemic
conclave
levee
inept

Integrity? Sheesh!

BTW, they also had a site where you can vote for the word that best sums up 2006, and I voted. I suspect that most oldtimers here might be able to guess which word I voted for.

quote:

> the fourth ["trifecta"] I have never heard in my life.

> I had to look it up, like Bob.

> I've heard trifecta but don't really know what it means.

tsk tsk How soon they forget.

quote:

integrity

Probably GW Bush and Tony B. Liar looking it up. They'd heard other people use the word and wondered what it means.