The 2011 Word of the Year is...

Dictionary.com has announced the 2011 Word of the Year:

ter·gi·ver·sate 
Pronunciation: tur-JI-ver-seyt 
Part of speech: verb 
Etymology: Latin tergiversātus (past participle of tergiversārī to turn one's back), equivalent to tergi- (combining form of tergum back) + versātus, past participle of versāre, frequentative of vertere to turn 
Date: 1645–55 
Meaning: to change repeatedly one's attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.; equivocate.

"We're taking a stand on this choice," said Jay Schwartz, Dictionary.com's Head of Content. "We think that it's immensely rewarding to find existing words that capture a precise experience, and this year, tumult has been the norm rather than the exception. There are contested public spaces around the world, where people are demonstrating in one direction or another. Opinions and circumstances have been oscillating so much."

Like many, I'm unfamiliar with the word "tergiversate," and thus I find it an interesting choice. With so many options, I imagine it would be difficult to come to a consensus on just one word. In fact, I wonder how many times the lexicographers tergiversated their final selection prior to announcing the official winner.

(via The Huffington Post)

50 Years of 'The Phantom Tollbooth'

"There was once a boy named Milo who didn't know what to do with himself — not just sometimes but always. When he was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in ... Nothing really interested him — least of all the things that should have."

The Phantom Tollbooth was first released on this day in 1961, and fifty years later, the popular children's book has never gone out of print. Written by Norton Juster with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, the classic story is still on bookshelves in libraries throughout the world — as long as they still exist!

(via Yahoo!News)

Murder or Suicide? The New Theory of Vincent van Gogh's Death

A 10 year forensic investigation by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith concludes that artist Vincent van Gogh (March 30, 1853 – July 29, 1890) may not have committed suicide. In their new book "Van Gogh: The Life" in bookstores this Tuesday, the authors speculate that the Dutch post-Impressionist painter may have actually been murdered, challenging over 120 years of art history. This fascinating new theory was outlined on Sunday evening's "60 Minutes." Watch:




(via CBS News)

'Word as Image,' a Book of Visual Puzzles

Word as Image is a witty new book by Ji Lee, Facebook's Creative Director.

Challenge: Create an image out of a word, using only the letters in the word itself.

Rule: Use only the graphic elements of the letters without adding outside parts.

After seeing the examples in the video, you may be inspired to think of others—I sure am! As they say, the dictionary is filled with thousands of fun visual puzzles just waiting to be solved. Visit www.wordasimage.com to submit your solutions.

> Buy the book here

(via Laughing Squid)

Where's Waldo? In Dublin, Of Course!

Can you spot Waldo in the photograph above? It shouldn't be too difficult!



Wearing his signature red and white striped shirts, matching hats and dark-rimmed glasses, a total of 3,657 fans showed up in Dublin this weekend to break the Guinness World Record for the most Waldos in one location.



Where's Waldo (or Wally, as he's known in the British version) is a popular children's book created by British illustrator Martin Handford. The first book was published in 1987, and I'm pretty certain that at some point as a kid I found all of the hidden objects in every book of the entire series (and the Where Are They? series as well).

Did you know? Around the world, Waldo is known by a variety of names:
British - Wally, Hindi – Hetti, German – Walter, Hungarian – Vili, Icelandic – Valli, Croatian – Jura, Danish – Holger, Estonian – Volli, French – Charlie

(via Guardian)

The Mystery of Pottermore

"The owls are gathering...Find out why soon."

That's the mysterious message posted on J.K. Rowling's YouTube Channel. And according to the countdown clock, the Harry Potter author will be making some sort of fantastical announcement in just a couple of days. But what could it be?

Whatever the news, it somehow relates to Pottermore — J.K.'s new website that's "Coming Soon..." I'm guessing it will be some sort of magical online world dedicated to the boy wizard, launching to coincide with the final movie release on July 15. We'll all know soon enough...

And the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee Winner is . . .

Photo credit: Zap2it

cy·mot·ri·chous
Pronunciation: sahy-mo-truh-kuhs
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: having wavy hair

Congratulations to Sukanya Roy, the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee winner!

In case you missed last night's final round on ESPN (I didn't), Sukanya, a 14-year-old girl from South Abington, Pennsylvania, won with the word cymotrichous. As in, the humid weather causes my cymotrichous to flare up. Okay, maybe that's not exactly the correct usage.

> Would you have qualified for the Semifinal round? Test your spelling skills

A Crafty 'Wicked' Bookmark

A crafty gal was inspired to create this clever bookmark while reading Wicked: The Life and Times of The Wicked Witch of the West. So creative!

(via Oops, I Craft My Pants)

Mr. Men and Little Miss Google Doodles

Little Miss Sunshine Google Doodle

Long before Harry Potter, The Babysitters Club series and all of the Ramona books, there was Mr. Men and Little Miss. In fact, I remember being particularly fond of Little Miss Sunshine (the book, not the movie, not that the movie was bad).

Today's Google Doodle celebrates the author and illustrator of the Mr. Men and Little Miss books, Charles Roger Hargreaves (May 9, 1935 – September 11, 1988), who would have been 76 years old today.

The first of the Mr. Men characters is said have been created when his Hargreaves' son Adam asked him what a tickle looked like. And thus Mr. Tickle was born.

So if you're feeling nostalgic, visit Google today, and be sure to refresh your browser to see all 16 Mr. Men and Little Miss Google Doodles.

> Illustrated chart of all Mr. Men and Little Miss characters