WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:02.670 line:15% 
- Welcome to Ask the Editor,

2
00:00:02.670 --> 00:00:04.391 line:15% 
I'm Peter Sokolowski editor at large

3
00:00:04.391 --> 00:00:05.666
here at Merriam-Webster.

4
00:00:05.666 --> 00:00:08.082
When Michael Jackson died, many people looked up the words

5
00:00:08.082 --> 00:00:11.220
used in the news coverage of his death and the investigation

6
00:00:11.220 --> 00:00:13.578
and memorials that followed, whenever there's a big

7
00:00:13.578 --> 00:00:16.736
news story like this, it's possible to sort of track

8
00:00:16.736 --> 00:00:18.735
what people are thinking about, according to what

9
00:00:18.735 --> 00:00:21.663
words are being looked up online, the morning that

10
00:00:21.663 --> 00:00:23.797 line:15% 
Michael Jackson died, the words stricken

11
00:00:23.797 --> 00:00:26.716 line:15% 
and resuscitate were the most looked up words.

12
00:00:26.716 --> 00:00:29.390 line:15% 
And by that afternoon, the words condolences

13
00:00:29.390 --> 00:00:32.514 line:15% 
and icon joined them near the top of the list.

14
00:00:32.514 --> 00:00:34.943 line:15% 
The next day the word resuscitate replaced stricken

15
00:00:34.943 --> 00:00:36.350
as the most looked up word.

16
00:00:36.350 --> 00:00:39.092 line:15% 
And for the weekend, the abbreviation R.I.P.

17
00:00:39.092 --> 00:00:41.454 line:15% 
for the Latin phrase Requiescat in Pace,

18
00:00:41.454 --> 00:00:44.908 line:15% 
or rest in peace was the most looked up term.

19
00:00:44.908 --> 00:00:46.776 line:15% 
It's unusual for us to see an abbreviation

20
00:00:46.776 --> 00:00:49.906 line:15% 
in the number one spot, the next day, emaciated

21
00:00:49.906 --> 00:00:52.313 line:15% 
was the most looked up word, in fact,

22
00:00:52.313 --> 00:00:54.449 line:15% 
it remained the most looked-up term for the whole week

23
00:00:54.449 --> 00:00:57.174 line:15% 
and on average was the most looked-up word all summer.

24
00:00:57.174 --> 00:00:59.460 line:15% 
And it shows a sort of fascinating intersection

25
00:00:59.460 --> 00:01:01.150 line:15% 
of news and vocabulary.

26
00:01:01.150 --> 00:01:03.473
Look for more segments of Ask the Editor here

27
00:01:03.473 --> 00:01:05.306
at Merriam-Webster.com