In a leaked memo obtained by theawl.com, New York Times standards editor Phil Corbett sets out his reasons for not using "tweet." "Some social-media fans may disagree, but outside of ornithological contexts, 'tweet' has not yet achieved the status of standard English. And standard English is what we should use in news articles." "Except for special effect, we try to avoid colloquialisms, neologisms and jargon. And 'tweet' - as a noun or a verb, referring to messages on Twitter - is all three. Yet it has appeared 18 times in articles in the past month, in a range of sections." "Of course, new technology terms sprout and spread faster than ever. And we don't want to seem paleolithic. But we favor established usage and ordinary words over the latest jargon or buzzwords." http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/maggieshiels/2010/06/to_tweet_or_not_to_tweet.html

If The New York Times ever strikes you as an abstruse glut of antediluvian perorations, if the newspaper’s profligacy of neologisms and shibboleths ever set off apoplectic paroxysms in you, if it all seems a bit recondite, here’s a reason to be sanguine: The Times has great data on the words that send readers in search of a dictionary. As you may know, highlighting a word or passage on the Times website calls up a question mark that users can click for a definition and other reference material. It turns out the Times tracks usage of that feature, and deputy news editor Philip Corbett, who oversees the Times style manual, offered reporters a fascinating glimpse into the 50 most frequently looked-up words on nytimes.com in 2009. We obtained the memo and accompanying chart, which offer a nice lesson in how news sites can improve their journalism by studying user behavior. See at: http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/06/ny-times-mines-its-data-to-identify-words-that-readers-find-abstruse/

Full Report - Beige Book, June 9, 2010 - Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District, and link to reports by Districts: "Economic activity continued to improve since the last report across all twelve Federal Reserve Districts, although many Districts described the pace of growth as "modest." Consumer spending and tourism activity generally increased. Business spending also rose, on net, with employment and capital spending edging up but inventory investment slowing. By sector, non financial services, manufacturing, and transportation continued to gradually improve. Residential real estate activity in many Districts was buoyed by the April deadline for the homebuyer tax credit. Commercial real estate remained weak, although some Districts reported an increase in leasing. Financial activity was little changed on balance, although a few Districts noted a modest increase in lending. Spring planting was generally ahead of the normal pace, while conditions in the natural resource sectors varied across the Districts. Prices of final goods and services were largely stable as higher input costs were not being passed along to customers and wage pressures continued to be minimal."

Dept. of Energy and EPA's 2010 Fuel Economy Guide
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) produce the Fuel Economy Guide to help car buyers choose the most fuel efficient vehicle that meets their needs. This Guide provides annual fuel cost estimates for each vehicle. The estimates are based on the assumptions that you travel 15,000 miles per year (55% under city driving conditions and 45% under highway conditions) and that fuel costs $2.73/gallon for regular unleaded gasoline and $2.98/gallon for premium. Cost-per gallon assumptions for vehicles that use other fuel types are discussed at the beginning of those vehicle sections."

Words that appear plural but aren't
A recent newspaper report about a baseball player read: "Swisher is against resting his injured left bicep." Of course, the word is "biceps" (plural is biceps or bicepes), but the writer of the above sentence can be forgiven for assuming the word biceps to be a plural and forming the word "bicep". It happens all the time in the evolution of a language. That's how we got the word pea from the former singular pease ("Pease porridge hot..."), sherry from sherris, and cherry from
cherise.
shambles (SHAM-buhls) noun
1. A state of great disorder.
2. A scene of carnage.
3. A slaughterhouse.
From oak to acorn, from a little piece of furniture to a slaughterhouse. The word known today as shambles started out as scamnum (stool, bench). Over time the word's sense evolved to "a vendor's table", more specifically, a butcher's table. Eventually, the word came to be applied to a meat market or a slaughterhouse. From the state of disarray of such a place, today we use the word metaphorically to denote a place of complete disorder.
kudos (KOO-doz, -dos, KYOO-) noun
Praise, honor, or credit.
From Greek kydos (praise, renown). The word kudos is a relatively recent addition to the English language. It entered the language as university slang in Britain, in the early 19th century. It's a singular word, in Greek and in English, but its plural-like appearance prompted some to coin a singular form by dropping the letter s. Many dictionaries (including the OED) now list the word kudo, though marked with an "erroneous" stamp. If the current trends are any indication, chances are over time kudo will drop the black mark on its reputation and become a well-respected word in the language, just as no one today objects to using the word pea (instead of pease) or cherry (instead of cherise). A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

Cambridge aims to become the world’s library with new rare books collection digitization plan News release: "Cambridge University Library has announced visionary plans to become a digital library for the world - following a £1.5m lead gift pledged by Dr. Leonard Polonsky. Home to more than seven million books and some of the greatest collections in existence, including those of Newton and Darwin, the Library will begin digitising its priceless treasures to launch its Digital Library for the 21st Century. University Librarian Anne Jarvis said: "Our library contains evidence of some of the greatest ideas and discoveries over two millennia. We want to make it accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world with an internet connection and a thirst for knowledge. This will not only make our collections available to the world; it will also initiate a global conversation about them...The first collections to be digitised will be entitled The Foundations of Faith and The Foundations of Science. The goal for both is that they become 'living libraries' with the capacity to grow and evolve."

Youngest known planet outside our solar system discovered
Probably only a few million years young, Beta Pictoris b is already fully formed, despite standard models that say such a planet should take ten million years to reach "adulthood," researchers say. The planet breaks the record once held by the planet BD 20 1790b, which clocked in at 35 million years old. The new planet is also nearer to its parent star than any other known planet outside our solar system—about as close as Saturn is to our sun. Located about 63.4 light-years from Earth, that star, named simply Beta Pictoris, is similar to our own star. And like Beta Pictoris b, Beta Pictoris is relatively young—about 12 million years old, compared with the sun's 4.5 billion years. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100610-youngest-planet-exoplanet-space-science/

Heavy rains from tropical storm Agatha likely triggered the collapse of a huge sinkhole in Guatemala on June 6. In the strictly geologic use of the word, a sinkhole happens when water erodes solid bedrock, carving an underground cavity that can then collapse. Many parts of the United States are at risk for that type of event. The Guatemala sinkhole fits into a broader use of the term, which refers to any sudden slump of the ground's surface. Instead of solid bedrock, much of Guatemala City rests atop a layer of loose, gravelly volcanic pumice that is hundreds of feet thick. And at least one geologist says leaking pipes—not nature—created the recent sinkhole. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/photogalleries/100604-sinkhole-pictures-around-the-world-guatemala-city/#sinkholes-holes-ground-2010-guatemala-city_21283_600x450.jpg