Imagine the situation: you’re reading the newspaper online. Great article. It’s filling you in on the big story that everybody is talking about over at the water cooler. In a few seconds you’re going to go over to them and fill them in on this juicy new detail.

But then – wait – what was that word?

“Fed” What the heck? Not as in, “I Fed my dog,” but Fed as in “In so doing, he seemed to distance himself from Ben Bernanke, the current Fed chairman, who has been much more upbeat.” Now you’re sitting there wondering what the heck that word means so you can impress your coworkers with your knowledge…or really just not let them down by not knowing what you’re talking about with respect to their news conversation.

Then you realize the newspaper is helping you out. You double-click on “Fed” and up pops a short description of the Federal Reserve System. This isn’t only enabled for the big, important words, but all the words on the page…just in case you need a little help.

Cool idea. Implemented by Nytimes.com. Well done.