Lindsay Mitchell lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com Michelle Duff claims in an ‘analysis’ for “trustworthy, accurate and reliable” Stuff: 90 per cent of those who have lost their jobs post-Covid are women Yesterday I quoted another source that debunked the number. The shocking revelation – that of the 11,000 fewer people
The word for today is… aphelion (noun) – The point on the orbit of a celestial body that is farthest from the sun. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Aphelion and perihelion are troublesome terms. Which one means a planet is nearest to the sun and which means it is farthest away?
Nathan Smith nzinitiative.org.nz “They” say a conspiracy theorist is someone who is correct ten years too early. What’s funny is this is the same definition of an economic forecaster. In fact, master Keynesian Paul Samuelson once joked that Wall Street has predicted nine of the last five
The word for today is… prosopagnosia (noun) – A disorder characterised by the inability to recognise people by their faces. In some cases it is present at birth, and in others it is the result of a brain injury. Also called face blindness. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : 1950, Medical Latin
Jeffrey A. Tucker aier.org The lockdown upheaval has affected every aspect of life, including intellectual life. People we have never heard of have become some of the most passionate and informative voices against government measures. I’m glad to meet them and interested in seeing how they grow through
The word for today is… yokel (noun) – A rustic; a bumpkin. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The origins of yokel are uncertain, but it might have come from the dialectal English word yokel used as the name for the green woodpecker (the nickname is of imitative origin). Other words for
The word for today is… shambolic (adj) – Disorderly or chaotic. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : 1961, apparently from shamble in the sense “disorder” (see shambles), perhaps on model of symbolic. If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends.
Rowan Light maxim.org.nz With the sudden return to lockdown, it makes sense that many New Zealanders are experiencing anxiety and despair. Hoarding or panic-buying food, conspiracy theories proliferating online, and the public vilification of people walking without masks – all point to an insight by Viktor Frankl: “An
Australia has a rich tradition of editorial cartooning, and Johannes Leak is shaping up as one of the greats. It’s not entirely surprising, perhaps: his father, the late Bill Leak, was indisputably one of the best ever. Johannes has inherited not just his father’s sharp eye and draftsmanship,
Sir Bob Jones nopunchespulled.com A recent NZ Herald correspondent finished his letter on the Victorian pandemic with “Poor buggers”. Reading that now acceptable expression, took my memory back to a 1956 Springbok tour test match. It was a huge event in then non-event New Zealand, with the nation
The word for today is… parse (verb) – 1. (a) To break (a sentence) down into its component parts of speech with an explanation of the form, function, and syntactical relationship of each part. (b) To describe (a word) by stating its part of speech, form, and syntactical relationships in a
It’s a little-known fact that, prior to the late 90s/early 2000s, the most intense period of globalisation occurred in the second half of the 19th century. For much of the 20th century, in fact, globalisation was in retreat. Walls and trade barriers went up and stayed up
We really need to find a new term to add to the BFD Dictionary. Along with Trougher, Gunts, Fatima, etc., there ought to be a term to describe a word or action only ever used by leftist journalists or academics, usually as a kind of secret handshake which indicates to
The word for today is… omnipotent (adj) – Having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force; all-powerful. (noun) – 1. One having unlimited power or authority. 2. Omnipotent God. Used with the. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The word omnipotent made its way into English through Anglo-French, but it ultimately
The word for today is… maestro (noun) – A master in an art, especially a composer, conductor, or music teacher. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : “Master of music, great teacher or composer,” 1797, from Italian maestro, literally “master,” from Latin magisterium, accusative of magister “chief, head, director, teacher,” contrastive adjective (“he
The word for today is… jargon (noun) – 1. The specialised language of a trade, profession, or similar group, especially when viewed as difficult to understand by outsiders. 2. Nonsensical or incoherent language. 3. A hybrid language or dialect; a pidgin. Not in technical use. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Mid-
