Lunar eclipse was great, even if you didn’t see it

Those whose "moon is in the seventh house" surely were crushed that crummy weather intersected with last night’s rare celestial event. Given that a lunar eclipse coincides with the winter solstice only once every four centuries or so, it’s a cosmic bummer to have cloudy skies interfere.

Stalwart University of Hawaii fans, however, might argue that it’s more important to have good weather for the Christmas Eve Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Friday. By that time, everyone will be more than ready to "let the sun shine in."

Austerity is popular, but only as a word

"Austerity" is online dictionary Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2010, with more than 250,000 requests for a definition.

"Austerity"—meaning "enforced or extreme economy"—got a boost from the crisis in Europe, where government debt-fighting measures included tax hikes and public worker pay cuts, but it clearly has significance in the U.S. as well.

Mostly, word searches are driven by cultural or news events, so it’s no surprise that this year’s top 10 includes "pragmatic," "socialism" and "shellacking."

Last month, the New Oxford American Dictionary raised a ruckus with its word of the year: "Refudiate." That followed 2009’s "unfriend."