Bruce Bennett Lancaster University Forgive me, I’m about to go all Scrooge. Christmas, you see, is a particularly grim time of year. Rolling around with grinding, Groundhog Day relentlessness, it is an interval of dark days and long nights, bad music, kitsch clothing and decor, enforced jollity, stilted family
Karl D. Stephanro mercatornet.com Faithful Muslims are required to pray five times a day, facing toward Mecca. In our smartphone era, it was only a matter of time before someone came up with an app that reminds the Muslim user that it’s time to pray, and conveniently uses
Mary Gale Smith University of British Columbia United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent Britons Googling this past fall when he said “a stitch in time saves nine” to describe actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The phrase means it’s better to spend a little time solving a
The word for today is… mythomania (noun) – A compulsion to embroider the truth, engage in exaggeration, or tell lies. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : We wouldn’t lie to you about the history of mythomania. It comes, via the French mythomanie, from two ancient roots: the Greek m?thos (meaning
Adam Taylor Lancaster University ‘Tis the season to be jolly. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la. The festive period is a time for family, friends and happiness. The worst thing most people face is a bit of digestive discomfort from overeating. But for a few unfortunate individuals, Christmas is like a scene from National
righttolife.org.uk An Argentinian pro-abortion activist has created a modification for the famous 1990s video game, Doom, in which the player completes the game by shooting an unborn baby with a shotgun. Once the player has killed the unborn baby the game displays the message “You defeated fetito [English
Sir Bob Jones nopunchespulled.com Last week a South Island Borough Councillor resigned, because, he said, he may have behaved inappropriately at a function. The keyword here is “may”. No details of the possible inappropriate behaviour were supplied and according to the report no-one had complained. Still, we can guess
Sir Bob Jones nopunchespulled.com As a policy decision, I rarely respond to comments on this Blog. However, such has been the overwhelming supportive response to my comments regarding the ghastly hypocritical, sponging little turd Ricardo Menendez March, not merely on this site but particularly on Kiwiblog, I’d like
The word for today is… meliorism (noun) – 1. The belief that the human condition can be improved through concerted effort. 2. The belief that there is an inherent tendency toward progress or improvement in the human condition. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : n 1877, British novelist George Eliot believed she
Gerry Two Shakes of a Lamb’s Tail Instantly or very speedily Lambs have been long known as frisky animals, prancing and dancing around the paddock—at least, that is, until they lose their tails! In my Dictionary of Cliches, I find that recorded use of the phrase dates from
Michael Cook mercatornet.com Michael Cook is the editor of MercatorNet. The other day a friend discovered that his favourite YouTube chess channel had been blocked for violating “community standards”. The Croatian creator of “agadmator’s Chess Channel”, which has about 700,000 subscribers, was also puzzled. It turns out
The word for today is… limpid (adj) – 2. Free from clouds or haze. 3. Easily intelligible; clear. 4. Easily or pleasantly heard; distinct. 5. Flowing or moving gracefully. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Since around 1600, limpid has been used in English to describe things that have the soft clearness
Sir Bob Jones nopunchespulled.com The latest Guardian Weekly reported a study showing Coca-Cola is the world’s largest plastic polluter. They’re not actually, rather it’s their customers who leave their plastic bottles lying about. The reason Coca-Cola is top of the pops is simply its popularity. Count
The word for today is… leitmotif (noun) – 1. A melodic passage or phrase, especially in Wagnerian opera, associated with a specific character, situation, or element. 2. A dominant and recurring theme, as in a novel. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The English word leitmotif (or leitmotiv, as it is also
The word for today is… juncture (noun) – 1. (a) The act of joining or the condition of being joined. (b) A place where two things are joined; a junction or joint. 2. A point in time, especially one requiring a decision to be made. 3. The transition or mode of
Gerry Skeleton in the closet. This refers to having something in your past that is shameful and is to remain hidden. Such ‘skeletons’ could perhaps ruin a person or damage their social standing. To some extent we see a parallel in the ‘Madwoman in the Attic’ that describes some well-documented
