Capitalism and socialism wed as words of the year

Thanks to the election, socialism and capitalism are forever wed as Merriam-Webster's most looked-up words of 2012.

 

Traffic for the unlikely pair on Merriam-Webster's website about doubled this year from the year before as the health care debate heated up and discussion intensified over "American capitalism" versus "European socialism."

 

The choice was revealed by the dictionary's editors Wednesday along with other top 10 picks for the year.

 

Also included were the election-related words democracy, globalization, marriage, bigot and "malarkey," a term Vice President Joe Biden used in his debate with Republican Paul Ryan. Rounding out the top 10 were "meme" for the Internet phenomena that go viral, touche, schadenfreude and professional.