'In America, 'Socialism' is a Dirty Word'

Would be nice if it were true.

Sadly, it's not the word of the year.

REFLECTING what's on the minds of Americans, "bailout" and "socialism" beat "maverick" in a US dictionary's word of the year contest.

Bailout - "a rescue from financial distress'' - was declared the winner of Merriam-Webster's word of the year competition on Monday after it was judged the most looked-up word on the dictionary's website, Merriam-Webster editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski said.

'''Bail out' as a phrasal verb refers to parachuting from an aircraft or, in our second sense, to abandoning a harmful or difficult situation, both of which point to distress,'' said Mr Sokolowski.

Second on the list was "vet'', as in to evaluate a candidate's suitability and qualifications for a position.

And in third place, just in front of "maverick'' - a word used during the long presidential campaign to describe Republican candidate John McCain - was the word "socialism''.

"In America, 'socialism' is a dirty word,'' said Mr Sokolowski.

Lookups - itself an accepted word dating back to 1936, according to Merriam-Webster - of "socialism'' began to climb in September, as the economic woes of US companies began to mount and the race for the presidency between McCain and his Democratic rival Barack Obama neared its close.

Not only was there heated discussion of bailouts - economic socialism and the US Government taking control of ailing companies - but the word was also used in a disparaging sense by the Republicans to try to turn voters against Mr Obama.

"It's a funny word to have on the list but it's clear to me that Americans don't know what socialism is,'' said Mr Sokolowski.

No kidding.