Anybody who's ever had a mom knows what it's like to wear gobs and gobs of sunscreen: Sticky but (we're told) necessary. However, a new study reveals that many sunscreens fail to work as advertised. Was Mom wrong all along?

An article from LiveScience breaks it down. According to the Enviormental Working Group (EWG), 80% of the roughly one thousand sunscreens analyzed provide "inadequate protection from the sun or contain harmful chemicals." Uh, oh. Furthermore, the biggest names in sunscreen (Coppertone, Banana Boat, and Neutrogena) are allegedly the biggest offenders.

Of course, not everyone agrees with the findings. LiveScience explains that some dermatologists find the report full of hyperbole. Still the article acknowledges that there are some core truths that everyone (not just worried moms) should be aware of. Fortunately, people are paying attention. Not only is the LiveScience article a hit in Buzz, we've also noticed surges in lookups for "sunblock spf definition," "uva vs uvb rays" and "highest spf available."

That last query is easy enough to answer. As the buzzing exposé notes, if you want true sun protection with a "SPF of 1 zillion," just wear clothing. It's simple, effective, and mom would definitely approve.

Searching for definitions online has long been a quick and dirty method to finding meaning. It's tempting, though, to read something deeper into the seemingly random patterns of "define."

For instance, questions about "define nursing paradigms" likely stem from an educational assignment, but is there deep societal frustration that gives rise to the flurry of "define complacent" or "define apathetic" queries? Are people looking for standards once and for all when they inquire, "define what is blogging"? What Parker spurred the aggrieved "define nosey"? And can there be a succinct response to "define what is man"?

These questions, and less, come from pondering words out of context. Take a look at some definitions people have sought in the past 30 days. This should be the last word on the subject of words, for the time being.

At a time when technology keeps shortening words to four letters or fewer, are dictionaries still meaningful? You betcha. Even when school's out (for most), searches for dictionaries are up 14% compared to this same period last year. Throw in foreign language look-ups, and the need to know goes up 18%.

Besides vocabulary, searches for medical dictionaries rose 63% compared to last year. And we thought "cyberchondria" was so last year. (No, that word isn't part of Merriam-Webster's new batch. Yet.) The Urban Dictionary remains the second most consulted specialty dictionary, but WDR, the lingo to know is text messaging, a newby search this summer. Wordsmiths also boosted Scrabble's dictionary, possibly thanks to a fabulous Facebook application... although look for a war of words with the official version launched Monday.

Among international languages, Spanish is still numero segundo (after English), despite its 10 percent drop in searches compared to last summer. Farsi (spoken in Afghanistan and Iran) has become the fastest rising newcomer among languages. More people are also trying their tongues in Hebrew, Russian, Hawaiian, and Tagalog than last year. Fo' real, bruddah.