How big was "bailout," etymologically speaking? While Congress was considering the enormous financial industry rescue package this fall, searches for "bailout" eclipsed perennial puzzlers like "irony" and the bedeviling duo of "affect" and "effect."

Merriam-Webster's online dictionary decided to choose the "word of the year" based on the volume of look-ups for the most misunderstood word of the century: bailout. The seemingly simple word suddenly took on $700 billion worth of importance, and Merriam-Webster could not ignore it.

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