Merriam-Webster's emailed update on recently searched words:
We hope you enjoy some of the words that may have tickled your curiosity over the past week.
Pinkerton
extrajudicial
virtuous
amicus
good old
brass-knuckled
OK, I get brass-knuckles, extrajudicial and amicus, but what's with "Pinkerton"? What have I missed? Has that little detective agency that so deftly protected President Abraham Lincoln been in the news? I just hate being out of the populist loop.