The word for today is… bon vivant (noun) – A person with refined taste, especially one who enjoys superb food and drink. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Fans of fine French wine and cuisine won’t be surprised to hear that the French language gave us a number of words for
The word for today is… billingsgate (noun) – Foul, abusive language. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : From its beginnings during the time of the Roman occupation, the Billingsgate fish market in London, England, has been notorious for the crude language that has resounded through its stalls. In fact, the fish merchants
Was the gun buy-back a success? Unequivocally, no. How do we know it wasn’t a success? Because not a peep has been heard from politicians or Police about how they achieved stunning results through the buy-back. Chris Geddis has his own thoughts on the buy-back in the Hawkes Bay
The word for today is… belle epoque (noun) – An era of artistic and cultural refinement in a society, especially in France from the late 19th century until the beginning of World War I. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : In the years before World War I, France experienced a period of
The word for today is… acquiesce (verb) – To consent or comply passively or without protest. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Acquiesce means essentially “to comply quietly,” so it should not surprise you to learn that it is ultimately derived from the Latin verb qui?scere, meaning “to be quiet.” It
As you may have noticed, The BFD staff are taking a bit of time out from their hectic schedules and only a skeleton staff are looking after the site. Most of the rest of us are enjoying a bit of a break and hopefully you all are too. So I
The word for today is… phantasm (noun) – 1. Something apparently seen but having no physical reality; a phantom or an apparition. Also called phantasma. 2. An illusory mental image. Also called phantasma. 3. In Platonic philosophy, objective reality as perceived and distorted by the five senses. Source : The Free Dictionary
The word for today is… sobriquet (noun) – 1. An affectionate or humorous nickname. 2. An assumed name. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : This synonym of nickname has the same meaning in modern French as it does in English. In Middle French, however, its earlier incarnation soubriquet referred to both a
As 2019 draws to a close, the gun confiscation programme the government undertook this year has come to an end. New Zealand had a school shooting this month. The police shot and injured a man carrying an imitation pistol at a school. A top cop said “look to the US”
The word for today is… posthaste (adj) – With great speed; rapidly. (noun) – (Archaic) Great speed; rapidity. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : In the 16th century, the phrase “haste, post, haste” was used to inform posts (as couriers were then called) that a letter was urgent and must be hastily delivered.
The word for today is… teleological (noun) – 1. The philosophical interpretation of natural phenomena as exhibiting purpose or design. 2. The use of ultimate purpose or design as a means of explaining phenomena. 3. Belief in or the perception of purposeful development toward an end, as in history. Source : The
J.K. Rowling tries to draw a line in the sand around sex based rights. Twitter mob comes gunning for her. But are their tactics—which have worked to silence smaller voices—going to backfire? This video is on Thinkspot. https://www.ts.today/online_content/6742/detail?category=Event&
The Herald and Simon Wilson have been busted for making shit up and worse still is the extremely tardy response from the Herald in rectifying their errors. The Media Council is damning: The Media Council has ruled an article alleging that death threats had been posted on the Community Action
Under the austere leadership of the Church of Scotland, and a purely literal reading of the Bible, Christmas was ‘banned’ and remained so for hundreds of years in the presbyteries of the Northern British Isles, only officially rejoining the collective sanctioned celebrations in the mid-Twentieth Century. Blaming the once-supreme Catholic
The word for today is… comity (noun) – 1. An atmosphere of social harmony. 2. (Law) The principle by which a court in one jurisdiction defers to a court in another jurisdiction where either would have legal power to decide the case, or gives effect to the laws, executive acts, or
Oh the irony! Imagine if the first person criminalised under the new act was a senior cop in possession of an illegal firearm. I bet he won’t get 5 years imprisonment that the law abiding LFOs are threatened with, especially with an in-house investigation. The officer allegedly assaulted his
