The word for today is… gumption (noun): 1: enterprise, initiative 2 chiefly dialectal : common sense, horse sense Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : English speakers have had gumption (the word, that is) since the early 1700s. The term’s source isn’t known, but early examples of it are found in Scottish
Government agency Pharmac’s chief executive has been heavily criticised by the Health Minister, her own board chair and the Public Service Commissioner for “unacceptable” and “unprofessional” comments about journalist Rachel Smalley and her campaigning efforts to reform the drug-funding entity. Disdain for Smalley has been revealed in internal Pharmac
The word for today is… incarcerate (verb): 1: to put in prison 2: to subject to confinement Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Just as English is full of nouns referring to places where prisoners are confined, from the familiar (jail and prison) to the obscure (calaboose and bridewell), so we have
Christopher Luxon thinks he’s Rocketman. Speaking at Rocket Lab HQ, National leader Christopher Luxon has promised to create the role of Minister for Space if he’s the next prime minister. The National Party’s space policy document said the Minister for Space would “promote space and advanced aviation
The word for today is… quirk (noun, verb): noun 1a: an abrupt twist or curve b: a peculiar trait : idiosyncrasy c: accident, vagary 2: a groove separating a bead or other molding from adjoining members verb : curve, twist Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Did you expect quirk to be a noun
Imagine if Christopher Luxon had said this… or David Seymour. Te Pati Maori Rawiri Waititi has revealed he isn’t “a fan of democracy” during a candid pre-election conversation with Newshub. He explained why he thinks democracy is a “tyranny of the majority” and the one law he could pass
The word for today is… ancillary (adjective): 1: subordinate, subsidiary 2: auxiliary, supplementary Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Ancillary comes from the Latin word ancilla, meaning “a female servant,” which also gave us the rarer English word ancilla, meaning “an aid to achieving or mastering something difficult.” While the English ancilla
Paul Homewood wattsupwiththat.com h/t Paul Kolk And in yet more bad news for the EV rollout: John Lewis has stopped offering insurance to electric car drivers amid fears over the cost of repairs. The department store’s lending business John Lewis Financial Services has put a temporary pause
The word for today is… pilfer (verb): : steal, especially to steal stealthily in small amounts and often again and again Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Pilfer is a synonym of steal, but it typically implies a particular kind of stealing. What is pilfered is usually stolen stealthily—furtively, so that no
Sir Billy Connolly has shared an upsetting update amid his decade-long battle with Parkinson’s disease. The 80-year-old comedian was diagnosed with the brain disorder – which causes uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with coordination – in 2013, Now, he’s given fans an update revealing that he has
The word for today is… hoi polloi (plural noun): 1: the general populace : masses 2: people of distinction or wealth or elevated social status : elite Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Since hoi polloi is a transliteration of the Greek for “the many,” some critics have asserted that the phrase should not
The word for today is… flimflam (noun, verb): noun 1: deceptive nonsense 2: deception, fraud verb : to subject to a flimflam Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : English is full of words concerned with trickery and deception, ranging from the colorful “flimflam,” “bamboozle,” and “hornswoggle” to the more mundane “deceive,” “mislead,” and
The word for today is… stoic (noun, adjective): noun 1 capitalized : a member of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium about 300 b.c. holding that the wise man should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submissive to natural law 2: one apparently
A man matching the description of Dylan Barford, who has been missing in Auckland since the weekend, was captured on CCTV shortly before his disappearance. Barford’s family are pleading for the public’s help in finding him, saying it is not like him to be out of contact for
The word for today is… exhort (verb): : to incite by argument or advice : urge strongly Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Exhort is a 15th-century coinage. It derives from the Latin verb hortari, meaning “to incite,” and it often implies the ardent urging or admonishing of an orator or preacher. English speakers
The word for today is… evince (verb): 1: to constitute outward evidence of 2: to display clearly : reveal Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : To evince something is to show it clearly; the thing evinced is typically an intangible, such as an attitude or intent. Before the current use of evince was
