No one likes the "r" word, but in the past week "recession" made a splashy public comeback. In a tour that seemed to hit every media outlet, the economic term surfaced on newspapers' front pages, popped up in blogs, lingered in TV reports, and came roaring back in Buzz.

Over the past seven days, searchers propelled queries on "economic recession" and "recession" upwards. Lookups like "last u.s. recession" and "recession proof jobs" spiked. Even "stagflation"—a term not normally found strolling the Buzz aisles—more than doubled its numbers.

Most interest has focused on figuring out exactly what the pundits mean when they drop the you-know-what utterance. Demand for "definition of a recession economy" surged nearly 500%. Questions asking "what is a recession" picked up 260%, while "what is a recession economy" and "are we in a recession" nearly vaulted off the list.

As for the parts of the country most actively seeking fiscal answers online, New York; Washington, D.C.; and Tennessee top the list of areas typing "recession" into the Search box. To find out how fervently your state is hitting the Web for the big "r," check the map below...