List of predicted dates of the end of the world This article lists 32 dates ranging from 400 to 2240. Pat Robertson predicted 1982, and Harold Camping predicted 1994 and 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_predicted_dates_of_the_end_of_the_world

Financially troubled bookseller Barnes & Noble announced it has received a buyout offer of nearly $1 billion from Liberty Media. Barnes & Noble has 705 stores making it the largest brick-and-mortar bookstore in the nation. The buyer is Liberty Media, the parent company of cable network QVC, Starz premium cable network and the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Mogul John Malone controls the company. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90049097?Barnes%20%26%20Noble%20considering%20buyout%20offer

Retronymns are terms renamed after something similar but newer has come into being.
Brick-and-mortar store, high street shop As increasing use of the Internet allowed online stores, accessible only through computers, to compete with established retail shops, the latter began to be called "brick-and-mortar stores" or "high street shops" to indicate that customers could (or had to) visit them to examine and purchase their goods.
Landline phone service With the advent of cellular or mobile phone services, traditional hard-wired phone service became popularly known as landline phones. reviously, this term was generally only used by military personnel and amateur radio operators. (In the movie The Matrix a landline phone was also referred to as a "hardline".)
Sit-down restaurant With the rise of fast-food and take-out restaurants, the "standard" restaurant received a new name in the United States. (In the United Kingdom, fast food and takeaway (takeout) outlets are not normally referred to as "restaurants", so the "sit-down" qualifier is not necessary.)
Snail mail (also known as land mail, paper mail, p-mail, and postal mail) Non-electronic mail delivered to physical locations, such as one's home or business. Before email and voice mail, all mail was physical, and much slower by comparison — thus, the dysphemistic "snail" appellation.
Surface mail Traditional mail, delivered by road, rail, and ship, retrospectively named following the development of airmail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_retronyms#H.E2.80.93L

Feedback to A.Word.A.Day
From: Brady Richards Subject: Anomia There's a terrific Anomia card game that came out last year, made by a guy who has turned forgetfulness into a pretty entertaining competition. My friend who likes to play always calls it "that ammonia game"...because he can't remember the word anomia.
From: Dean M. Laux Subject: poetaster You probably know about the poetaster who, when he arose in the morning, went from bed to verse.
From: Adam Fuqua Subject: poetaster In Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, there is an alien race known as the Vogons. They are widely known for their bureaucracy and for having the third worst poetry in the universe. The main characters face almost certain death in hearing the poems of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, a true poetaster if ever there was one.
From: Susan Lane Subject: philtrum If you ever suffer from painful cramps in your calf, strongly squeeze the philtrum and in less than 30 seconds the cramp will go away. An amazing phenomenon, but it works.
From: Adam Fuqua Subject: philtrum In Filipino mythology, one can recognize engkanto (enchanted beings similar to the European stories of the sidhe lords and ladies) by their great beauty and the lack of a philtrum.

Disemvoweling, disemvowelling (see doubled L), or disemvowelment of a piece of alphabetic text is rewriting it with all the vowel letters removed. This original sentence: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog would, after being disemvowelled, look like this: Th qck brwn fx jmps vr th lzy dg
Because disemvoweling makes text legible only through significant cognitive effort, it is used by moderators on internet forums, newsgroups and blogs as a way to limit the effectiveness of unwanted postings or comments, such as internet trolling, rudeness or criticism. Disemvoweling maintains some transparency, both of the act and the underlying word, which would not be the case if the entire offending post is deleted. The word disemvoweling is a pun on vowel and disembowel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disemvoweling
Did you hear about Smrz's horrific crash in practice today? He was disemvowelled. (Yakub Smrz is a Czech motorcycle racer in the World Superbike series.)

International Strategy for Cyberspace May 2011 full report 30 pages http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/international_strategy_for_cyberspace.pdf
fact sheet four pages http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/International_Strategy_Cyberspace_Factsheet.pdf

Is inflation best defined as "rising prices" or "printing money?" The answer depends on which dictionary you use. Inflation hawks say the Federal Reserve's easy-money policies will lead inevitably to an upward spiral in the prices of everything from bread to haircuts. Inflation doves say that if policy makers are careful, that doesn't have to happen. Who's right? From the 19th century up to the Eleventh New Collegiate Dictionary—issued in 2003—Webster's defined inflation as what happens when a country prints too much money, which is exactly what hawks worry the Fed's monetary stimulus is doing now. But in 2003, the definition changed to "a continuing rise in the general price level," which is only "usually attributed" to an abundance of money, suggesting the doves could have a point. Not everyone accepts the update. Michael Pento, an economist with Euro Pacific Capital, keeps a pre-2003 Webster's on his desk. Asked about the newer definition, he scoffs: "I take huge issue with that. They have everything upside down." Most mainstream economists say it's the old definition that was off-base. By the mid-20th century, when people talked about inflation—whether they were economists speaking at conferences or shoppers chatting in line at the grocery store—they were usually talking about higher prices. Along with the evolving meaning, there has been a shift in American thinking of the purpose of dictionaries: Rather than defining words as some experts thought they should be used, dictionaries have moved toward defining words as people actually use them. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576319173360183278.html

While marketers have long sought out consumer opinions, opportunities to dive in and earn some extra cash are expanding online. Half of a projected $3.3 billion in spending on market-research surveys this year will be conducted online rather than by traditional email, snail mail or telephone surveys, up from 33% in 2005, says Laurence Gold, editor and publisher of Inside Research, a Barrington, Ill., industry newsletter that has been tracking the market for two decades. Opinionators working from home usually make from less than $1 to $20 in cash, gift cards or other incentives for spending about two to 30 minutes completing surveys or reviews for such websites as SurveyHead.com, SurveySpot.com or Toluna.com. More intensive online focus groups or chats through 2020Research.com and others can take 20 minutes to two hours over two or more days, and pay $25 to $75 or more. Online mock jurors can make $5 to $10 for reading and giving an opinion on a case. Website testers make about $10 for spending 15 to 25 minutes trying out sites and recording their opinions. Online consumer research, of course, may not be totally representative, marketers say. Some also say they worry people try to game the system by answering dozens of surveys, or pretend to be someone they aren't. To address these concerns, companies that assemble the panels don't allow serial surveys from the same person. To guard against bias, participants are paid by the research company rather than the client, and the surveys usually don't identify the client. Also, research companies screen respondents to match the desired demographic profile, and weight results to make them representative of the target population. Prospective opinionators need to watch out for scams. Scam artists may pitch at-home opportunities as a pretext for collecting personal information like Social Security numbers for identity theft. http://online.wsj.com/article/work_and_family.html

Eat YourWay Across America Find 50 festivals described with dates, and links to Web sites. Suggest a food event to be included. Two examples of festivals as of May 22 are:
Bridgeville Apple-Scrapple Festival, Bridgeville, DE The festival honors two of the state's culinary treats: apples and scrapple.
Steinley Cup Official State Microbrewery Competition, Saratoga, WY Sip your way through the sudsy entries in this local brewery showdown. Kids can vote for their fave root beer—and young and old can weigh in on the best red chili, green chili, and salsa.
Click on one of nine regions to get started at: http://www.parade.com/food/festivals/index.html

Quote What's bad for the country is good for us (late-night comedians). Andy Richter May 16, 2011