Not many people can say they have turned their youthful dreams into reality, but proud East Coast man Mahanga Maru (Ngati Porou) is one of them. From watching planes flying over his home as a child growing up in remote Ruatoria, he now owns and operates his own private airline,
The word for today is… acronym (noun): : a word (such as NATO, radar, or laser) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The word acronym fuses together two combining forms: acr- (“beginning”) and
Kristen Dunfield psychlopaedia.org Kristen Dunfield receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canada and the Fonds de Recherche Société et Culture, Québec. Fantastical beliefs in children are associated with positive developmental outcomes Christmas is a magical time of year, especially for children. Unfortunately, between elaborate Elf
Tani Newton ’Tis the season for overspending and overeating, to be followed by a long summer of hardship, hunger and domestic violence. The Salvation Army have their busiest month in January. ’Tis the season to dredge up old grievances and be nasty, catty and backbiting. It’s interesting how people
Finance Minister Nicola Willis is resting her credibility on her ability to deliver tax cuts next year, despite heralding a bleak economic future as she unveiled nearly $7.5 billion worth of savings in the mini-Budget, and slammed the Labour Government’s fiscal record. “It is actually very clear in
The word for today is… hirsute (adjective): 1: hairy 2: covered with coarse stiff hairs Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : If you’ve seen even one horror movie featuring a werewolf, you likely can recall the classic transformation scene of such films: tufts of hair sprouting from under cuffs and collars,
Ann Farmer Ann Farmer writes from the United Kingdom. mercatornet.com In this age of cancel culture, every year I’m pleasantly surprised to see that Christmas has survived. The modern battle against Christianity is not a frontal assault — but it is slowly succeeding. Christmas trees will not get the
Ryan Bridge thought coming out was going to ruin his life. He even bought a ticket to move to the UK as an “escape plan” if telling his parents didn’t go well. He was worried his friends wouldn’t want to hang out with him and that his “whole
The word for today is… foliage (noun): 1: a representation of leaves, flowers, and branches for architectural ornamentation 2: the aggregate of leaves of one or more plants 3: a cluster of leaves, flowers, and branches Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Whether you’re a casual leaf peeper or a card-carrying
A North Island brown kiwi has managed to squeeze its way into a Bay of Islands woman’s hen house, cuddling up to get some shut eye. “Waipapa local, Jane, was checking on her chickens when she noticed the intruder, a North Island brown kiwi, taking a nap next to
The word for today is… supersede (verb): 1a: to cause to be set aside b: to force out of use as inferior 2: to take the place or position of 3: to displace in favor of another Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Supersede ultimately derives from the Latin verb supersedere, meaning
It may only be the first day of the Black Caps’ home season but Will Young’s incredible snare of Shoriful Islam on Sunday will be awfully hard to beat for catch of the summer. Fresh from scoring 105 off 84 balls – his third ODI century in New Zealand’s
The word for today is… circumvent (verb): 1: to manage to get around especially by ingenuity or stratagem 2a: to hem in b: to make a circuit around Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : If you’ve ever felt as if someone was running circles around those trying to get something done,
“We have discovered and had to dispose of various vegetables, perishables, meat products, eggs, milk and other dairy products that had obviously expired and could not have been consumed due to their deteriorated states. Once the refrigeration devices were removed, through the liquidation process, many of these items were left
The word for today is… gullible (adjective): : easily duped or cheated Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The adjective gullible grew out of the older verb gull, meaning “to deceive or take advantage of.” (That gull originally meant “to guzzle or gulp greedily,” and comes from an even older gull meaning “throat,
The word for today is… voracity (noun): : the quality or state of being voracious Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The insatiable word nerds among us will appreciate voracity, a word used to refer to both literal and figurative appetites that simply cannot be quelled. Voracity comes to us (via Middle French)
