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10 most-looked-up words of 2012, according to Merriam Webster

Political debates and this year鈥檚 election drove Americans to the dictionary 鈥� or the web 鈥� this year, making eight of this year鈥檚 ten most looked up words politically-inspired, according to Merriam Webster. Among this year鈥檚 picks are such politically-motivated words as socialism, democracy, capitalism, and malarkey, courtesy of Vice President Joe Biden. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e words that sort of encapsulate the zeitgeist,鈥� said Merriam Webster editor at large, Peter Sokolowski. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e words that are in the national conversation. The thing about an election year is that it generates a huge amount of very specific interest.鈥� Here now, are the top ten that Americans looked up in 2012.

1. 'Socialism' and 'capitalism'

David Goldman/AP

  • By Husna Haq

For the first time since it began compiling most popular word searches in 2003, Merriam Webster chose two 鈥渨ords of the year,鈥� socialism and capitalism. Lookups spiked during coverage of the healthcare debate, as well as both political conventions and each of the presidential debates. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fascinating to see which language from a campaign or debate speech resonates with our users,鈥� said John Morse, President and Publisher at . 鈥淲ith socialism and capitalism, it鈥檚 clear that many people turned to the dictionary to help make sense of the commentary that often surrounds these words.鈥�

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