Are the words we use a reflection of the world we live in? That could be the case for 2010, when the most-oft looked up word, according to word experts Merriam-Webster, was austerity. A bit bleak? Perhaps. Blame the economy. "Searches for the word began to spike in May, around the time when Greece began battling its debt crisis with harsh austerity measures," explains Slate. Work "austerity" into a few sentences from here on out, and it'll be part of your vocab in no time. more ›

So Merriam-Webster's word of the year is w00t. Sort of uninspiring, right? As in, aren't there thousands of other words that communicate so much more, mean so much more than the gamer battle-cry for "yes! i just killed your guy and i still have seven lives left!"?!?!? Surely there are more important things that happened in the word world than this, we kept thinking. Surely there were actual words that should have won. "Facebook" was... more ›

Here in Los Angeles, we're not used to feeling the change of seasons like some other parts of the country are, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate them! Today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. What exactly does that mean? A solstice occurs twice a year, whenever Earth's axis tilts the most toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun to be farthest north or south at noon.... more ›

There is more to looking something up than Google. Scary, but true. LAist recently came across PR Week's listing of the "Top Education Reference Websites" for last week and thought we'd share. Cause we're nice, and we want you to learn stuff. You're welcome. more ›