I’m trying to build my nerd cred, but hopelessly failing at the task. Try as I might, I’m just cool. I can’t help it!

(Note: You can’t see this, but my tongue is firmly in cheek. Honest.)

But if there’s one thing — one little tiny thing — that I do geek out on, it’s words. I love puns and wordplay and writing of all sorts. I might not read from the dictionary every night, but I do keep my AP Style Guide handy and have http://www.m-w.com/ bookmarked, just in case.

So it’s with great pleasure that I give you my new favorite word: PALEOTEMPESTOLOGY.

I’m hoping you’ll guess what it means and leave your answer in the comments, but I know you guys will be plagued by curiousity until you pop it into Google.

So I’ll give you a hint. If you want to know what PALEOTEMPESTOLOGY means and how it relates to disasters, check out this fascinating NPR story.

Paleontology (NOT paleotempestology!) photo © The Field Museum, #GN89860_3c