def _fmt_word(word, max_chars=60, crop_front=True):
    """str-convert a word.  If it exceeds max_chars, crop it to max_chars - 3
       and prefix it with "..."  eg:
          areallylongword --->  ....lylongword
        
    """
    word = str(word)
    if len(word) > max_chars:
        if crop_front:
            word = '...' + word[-(max_chars - 3):]
        else:
            word = word[:max_chars - 3] + '...'
    return word
