The word for today is… cornucopia (noun) – 1 : a curved, hollow goat’s horn or similarly shaped receptacle (such as a horn-shaped basket) that is overflowing especially with fruit and vegetables (such as gourds, ears of corn, apples, and grapes) and that is used as a decorative motif emblematic of
The word for today is… magnum opus (noun) – a great work – especially the greatest achievement of an artist or writer Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : You probably recognize magnum (“great”) as a Latin word that shows up in altered forms in several English words, and perhaps you can also come up
The word for today is… heinous (adjective) – hatefully or shockingly evil : abominable Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Humans have contrasted love with hate and good with evil for eons, putting love and good on one side and hate and evil on the other. The etymology of heinous reflects the association of
Mark Komrad mercatornet.com Dr Mark S. Komrad is a psychiatrist on the clinical and teaching staff of Sheppard Pratt Hospital and the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland; clinical assistant professor of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland; and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Tulane University in New Orleans.
Chris Sellars There is an insane asylum where the gardens are pleasant and the facilities more or less adequate but both inmates and staff are for the most part barking mad. We call this institution the world. It was called a night club but it had nothing in common with
The word for today is… blithesome (adjective) – : with lightheartedness or unconcern Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Blithe had been bounding about in the language for six centuries before English speakers attached a -some to its tail to make blithesome. Poet Robert Greene appears to have been among the first to employ
Gary Furnell mercatornet.com Present-day society has developed a disturbing ambivalence to suicide – on the one hand, abhorring it as a tragedy and calling for preventative measures; on the other, promoting it by the legalisation of euthanasia. Gary Furnell, whose work for a funeral director has exposed him to the
Satire is officially redundant. When you’re living in a clown world, it’s simply impossible to make fun of the circus. The gap between parody and reality has become razor-thin. Yesterday’s Titania McGrath tweet is today’s woke-left reality. Was it really just a few years ago that
Dave Pellowe goodsauce.news I’m a huge believer in freedom, and the loss of freedom experienced globally since the Great Covid-19 Experiment began last year is as alarming to me as it is inexplicable. How can so many educated, intelligent citizens of nations which have so long enjoyed the
The word for today is… exhilarate (verb)- : to make (someone) very happy and excited or elated Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Many people find “exhilarate” a difficult word to spell. It’s easy to forget that silent “h” in there, and is it an “er” or “ar” after the “l”
As The BFD reported last week, lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret is going woke. Its famous catalog is dumping its stock-in-trade of scantily-clad Barbie dolls. Instead, perpetual sourpuss Megan Rapinoe, “plus-sized” Paloma Elsesser and some bloke in a dress are its latest figureheads. But is this yet another case of
A regular reader of The BFD recently complained to TVNZ about a racist comment that had been broadcast in March. On the show in question, a white guy who was part of a group of white guys commented that he was so happy that a black guy was carrying his
The word for today is… veracity (noun) – 1 : conformity with truth or fact : accuracy 2 : devotion to the truth : truthfulness 3 : power of conveying or perceiving truth 4 : something true Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Veracity has been a part of English since at least 1623, and we can honestly tell
Sir Bob Jones nopunchespulled.com Behind Covid by a country mile, the big story of recent years has been the housing crisis. This is not just a New Zealand issue but one dominating politics and the news worldwide and it surprises me why commentators cannot see the underlining connection with
Rachael Wong mercatornet.com Rachael is a barrister, Managing Director at Women’s Forum Australia, and an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Law at the University of Notre Dame Australia. She previously worked with the Law Reform Commission in Samoa to bring about legislative reform to improve the lives
The word for today is… actuary (noun) – 1 obsolete : clerk, registrar 2 : a person who calculates insurance and annuity premiums, reserves, and dividends Source : Online Etymology Dictionary Etymology : First known use in the 1550s. Registrar, clerk from Medieval Latin actuarius. Copyist, account-keeper, short-hand writer, from Latin actus in the specialized
