Wow. That's fast Kirk.
Well, most of my pictures are of the family -- wife, son #1, son #2, mother-in-law, myself, etc. So my Master keyword list is all those people, plus a few other things that commonly come up -- school, shopping, etc.
Every so often I come across something unique that I want to add as a keyword, and I'm pretty sure I'll almost never need it again. Something like a coworker, who I know I've only taken a one or two shots of my entire life.
The shorter the master keyword list is, then the easier it is to use the keyword panel....which I must say is VERY convenient.
So for this coworker, I have to add his name to the list, then add his keyword to a few photos, and then delete his name from the list.
My proposal is this:
Normally you select the keywords you want to add (holding down CTRL for multiple), and then you hit "Apply to selected photos."
It would be great if you could type in something in the blank, holding CTRL to select keywords, and then hit "Apply to selected photos." That way the selections I chose, PLUS what was typed in the blank would get applied.