Finding the longest word that describes something real can be a challenge — especially when you are competing with Mary Poppins.

Well, that depends on what we mean by "word." If a word is coined just to be long, like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, should that count?

In Love Labor's Lost, a clown named Costard, arrested for having inlawful fling with a milkmaid, gets to say...

honorificabilitudinitatibus

That's 27 letters. The word means something like "loaded with honors," but, suspiciously, it comes in the middle of a conversation about wordiness, so it might be a word created to be wordy.

Here's one you know better:

antidisetablishmentarianism

It has 28 letters, but what is it? Just a bundle of suffixes and prefixes piled up into a little attention-grabbing hummock.

Five reasons why the loss of brick-and-mortar booksellers would be bad for bibliophiles.

5) Browsing is still easier and simpler at brick-and-mortar bookstores like Borders

Many readers find it very satisfying to be able to hold and skim through a physical copy of the book they are considering purchasing. While sites like Amazon.com have limited pages of books available for online viewing, they do not allow you to look through the entire book to make sure it is what you are looking for. Physical store locations do make this type of browsing possible.

Also, one of the most enjoyable things about visiting a bookstore is being intrigued by a book you simply see sitting on the shelf, but you may never have sought out or even known to look for. This type of experience is very hard to recreate in the search-driven world of online shopping.

4) Online shopping and e-readers are less accessible to lower-income people than bookstores are

Many people with very low incomes do not have access to a credit card. People with severe economic difficulties often also do not have checking accounts and therefore do not have a checkcard, either. At a brick-and-mortar retailer, these people can simply pay with cash. That option is not possible with the Kindle, where books are paid for electronically.

Moreover, an e-reader like the Kindle can cost upwards of $100, creating a financial barrier for low-income readers. This can become especially problematic if publishers start to produce their books primarily as e-books while issuing few or no physical copies for sale. When bookstores are situated in neighborhoods and stock physical books, readers can simply go and purchase the book they want without having to absorb a prohibitively high startup cost.

3 Brick-and-mortar booksellers are often the focal points of a community

In an age when people are less likely to attend church or join the local bowling league, bookstores have often assumed the role of a community meeting place. Bookstores host everything from reading groups to reading lessons. They often serve as venues for authors to visit new areas, discuss their books, and connect with readers. Bookstores also allow like-minded readers to connect with one another, perhaps in an in-store café or simply while browsing through the aisles. The loss of the brick-and-mortar bookstore would be another blow to a fading sense of community in American towns.

)2 Bookstores like Borders draw customers to fading downtowns

When a large bookstore that previously drew customers closes down, often surrounding businesses also suffer. Brick-and-mortar bookstores are frequently the "anchor" to a small strip mall or small town business district. The loss of bookstores further accelerates the decay of "Main Street."

1) With slashed library budgets, bookstores are often the most prominent physical institutions devoted to books

Many communities are already suffering from cuts to library budgets in light of the Great Recession. Losing brick-and-mortar bookstores too would mean that, in many communities, there would be no visible physical institutions devoted to books and reading. And we all know that old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind." Walking by bookstores and libraries on the way to work, to school, or to the supermarket is a great reminder to us of just how much there is out there to be explored through books.

Online booksellers and the Kindle are here to stay

The Kindle is massively popular and, of course, so is shopping online for books. This is because these methods are easy; convenient; and, for some, very affordable. While it would be foolish to try to turn back progress, much less to mourn the fact that Borders is finally succumbing to the harsh realities of capitalism which it used to squeeze out its competitors, we can acknowledge that certain important things would be lost were brick-and-mortar booksellers to disappear completely from the American landscape.The loss of these stores should give further urgency to movements around the country to preserve public libraries so that physical books can continue to be readily available to people in their communities.

Want to write some tragically bad Austen?

Phil Sexton, the publisher of WD, gave us a heads up about something fun going on over at his old Adams Media stomping grounds: The Bad Austen Contest. The goal? To round up the very best Jane Austen parodies, and to publish them in a book compilation in Fall 2011.

To get involved, channel some early 19th century wit and pen a piece of fewer than 800 words (the plot, setting, characters, etc., are up to you) parodying Austen’s style. Then, visit badausten.com, where you can register, submit your piece (all free) and gather votes for your entry.

The Twilight Oath

Here's a little something to remember this Saga by: 

The Twilight Oath:

I promise to remember
Bella 
Each time I carelessly fall down
And I promise to remember Edward 
Whenever I'm out of town
I promise to obey traffic
laws,
for Charlies sake of
course
And I promise to 
remember Jacob
when my heart fills with remorse 
I promise to remember Carlisle
whenever I am in the emergency room
And I promise to remember Emmett
every time there is a huge boom
I promise to remember Rosalie 
whenever I see something that holds pure beauty
And I promise to remember Alice 
when I'm in the mall and a cute outfit spots me 
I promise to remember Renesmee
when I see that beautiful bronze hair
I promise to remember Esme
when someone tells me they care 
I promise to remember Jasper
whenever my stomach isn't curled 
And I promise to remember the Voultrui
when someone speaks of dominating the world..........yes I promise to LOVE Twilight 
where ever I may go........so that all can see my obession.........
because I know what the Twilighters know...


(From an anonymous author)