Author JK Rowling has been accused of cruelty for mocking the world’s first openly transgender football manager, comparing her to a ‘straight, white, middle-aged bloke’. The Harry Potter novelist replied to a post on X, formerly Twitter, from LGBTQ+ charity Pride, championing Lucy Clark. The transgender referee is the
The word for today is… ulterior (adjective): 1: going beyond what is openly said or shown and especially what is proper 2a: further, future b: more distant c: situated on the farther side Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Although now usually hitched to the front of the noun motive to refer
Elon Musk has had a win over the Australian government in a federal court decision to overturn a ban on videos of the Sydney church stabbing. The judge chose not to extend a temporary order for the social media platform X to hide videos of the terrorist attack globally online.
The word for today is… refurbish (verb): : to brighten or freshen up : renovate Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : As seems proper given how English prefixes work, before you could refurbish something you could furbish it. That shorter word was borrowed into Middle English in the 14th century from Anglo-French as furbisshen;
Raymond G De Vries Professor Emeritus, Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine University of Michigan When we think about harm, we typically think of physical or psychological suffering. But ethicists point out that we can also suffer “moral injury” when forced to do something at odds with our
A $70,000 app to help Hamilton City Council staff with te reo has one councillor calling for closer scrutiny of “pet projects” as ratepayers face an unprecedented rates rise. He Pou Koorero – an app “designed to help people on their te reo journey” – will be launched this month and
The word for today is… verbiage (noun): 1: a profusion of words usually of little or obscure content 2: manner of expressing oneself in words : diction Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Verbiage descends from French verbier, meaning “to trill” or “to warble.” The usual sense of the word implies an overabundance
Just when you thought wokeness couldn’t get any more ridiculous: A private school in New South Wales has moved to change its yearly “Mother’s Day Stall” into a “Family Gift Stall” to be more inclusive – but some mums aren’t keen on the idea. It is actually called
The regulator would have been given the power to force online platforms to take down more kinds of illegal content, such as threats to kill people. The overall objective of the initiative was to “improve consumer safety for all New Zealanders”, Internal Affairs said. But a spokesperson for the department
The word for today is… obeisance (noun): 1: a movement of the body made in token of respect or submission : bow 2: acknowledgment of another’s superiority or importance : homage Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : When it first appeared in English in the 14th century, obeisance shared the same meaning as
A Hastings retiree may have turned up the op shop find of his life after learning paintings he bought for a few dollars could be worth thousands. Morgan Rainsford visits a Hawke’s Bay secondhand store almost every day but he did not want to name the place because it’
The word for today is… kith (noun): : familiar friends, neighbors, or relatives Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : If you’d used the word kith a thousand years ago, you might have been referring to knowledge, or to a homeland, or possibly to your neighbours and acquaintances. While those first two meanings
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. experienced a series of health issues in recent years, including an abnormality that he said was caused by a worm that entered his brain and then died, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. In 2010, Kennedy, now 70, experienced severe memory loss
The word for today is… germane (adjective): 1: being at once relevant and appropriate : fitting 2 obsolete : closely akin Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : “Wert thou a Leopard, thou wert Germane to the Lion.” So wrote William Shakespeare in his five-act tragedy Timon of Athens, using an old (and now-obsolete) sense
Rachel Stewart Ex-NZ Herald, 2016 ‘Opinion Writer of the Year’, Canon Media Awards. Firebrand, fearless, fun. rachelstewart.substack.com noun 1.1 MATHEMATICS A point of a curve at which a change in the direction of curvature occurs. After the recent Cass Report, the earth has shifted directly above the
Christchurch Hospital volunteer Noelani Ritchie has been recognised by Deaf Aotearoa for her dedication to New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). The 18 year-old, who was born Deaf and has a cochlear implant, received the NZSL Local Champion Canterbury award in Wellington. Read more here. Discuss it on The BFD. If
