New Words : word burst

17. word burst :

noun :

This refers to a rapid rise in both the frequency with which a word is used in a particular context and the rate at which the word’s usage increases over time.



Example Citations :

At a recent conference, Professor Kleinberg conjectured that word bursts could be used to track what people were discussing in personal Weblogs. Daypop, a search engine focused on news sites and Weblogs, quickly added a list of top word bursts. By comparing this list with Daypop's Top 40 links, one finds topics that are popular but may not depend on a link to a specific site. For example, news articles about the recent suicide of the French chef Bernard Loiseau did not make the list of top links, but his death was a high-ranking topic on the burst list.

—Pamela LiCalzi O'Connell : Online diary : The New York Times : March 13, 2003



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