Word of the year : Bailout [试读]

Everyone seems to want a bailout, but apparently a lot of Americans aren\'t sure what exactly a bailout is.

The word, which shot to prominence amid the financial meltdown, was looked up so often at Merriam-Webster\'s online dictionary site that the publisher says bailout was an easy choice for its 2008 Word of the Year.

Several well-worn terms from the presidential campaign also made the cut: maverick, bipartisan and, coming in at No. 2, vet - to appraise and evaluate, as in vetting a vice presidential pick.

But none topped bailout, a seemingly simple word that suddenly took on $700 billion worth of importance in September - and prompted hundreds of thousands of online lookups within just a few weeks.

People seem to have a general understanding of the word \'bailout,\' but they seem to want to better understand its application, any connotations it may have and shades of meaning. This term comes from criminal justice system. Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court in order to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail. \'Make a bail\' is to arrange deposit of payment, bail bond, or property. \'Bail out someone\' is to get someone out of jail through the bail process. Now, do you really need a bailout ?



Original Video - More videos at TinyPic