Yesterday, an unusual hockey game took place in Russia. Two teams played: a red team (dressed in red) and a white team (dressed in white). The white team consisted of some of the best Russian hockey players. The red team consisted of some of the best Russian hockey players + Russia’s President Putin and Byelorussia’s President Lukashenko.

Now the question: which team won the game with the score of 12 : 3?

And the most stupid article title of the winter is. . .

 

 

by Bloomberg. The article is stupid and not worth reading. All it says is that grad schools should admit fewer students.

It’s mind-blowing that somebody was paid to churn out this string of inanities and publish them under such an idiotic title. Can’t that sorry excuse for a journalist just get a real job already?

American Dialect Society has announced its words of the year 2013:

WORD OF THE YEAR

* because: introducing a noun, adjective, or other part of speech (e.g., “because reasons,” “because awesome”). 127
slash: used as a coordinating conjunction to mean “and/or” (e.g., “come and visit slash stay”) or “so” (“I love that place, slash can we go there?”). 21
twerk: A mode of dance that involves vigorous booty-shaking and booty-thrusting, usually with the feet planted. 7
Obamacare: term for the Affordable Care Act that has moved from pejorative to matter-of-fact shorthand. 39
selfie: a photo taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone and shared on social media. 20

“Slash” is old and “because reasons” is precious. “Twerk” brings to mind the ridiculous performance of a talentless person that we all need to forget as soon as possible. “Obamacare” is old. I’d vote for “selfie” because I like both the word and the activity that produces it. Do share your thoughts about the list. Do you have any other words you want to nominate?

And here is a new category in this contest:

MOST PRODUCTIVE (new category)

* -shaming: (from slut-shaming) type of public humiliation (fat-shaming, pet-shaming). 98/132
-splaining: (from mansplaining) type of condescending explanation (whitesplaining, journosplaining). 49/68
–coin: (from bitcoin) type of cryptocurrency (peercoin, namecoin, dogecoin). 0
-(el)fie: (from selfie) type of self-portrait (drelfie ‘drunk selfie,’ twofie ‘selfie with two people’). 39
-hack: (from lifehack) type of shortcut to increase productivity. 13
-spo: (from thinspo) type of photo or video montage intended to inspire viewers to lose weight or stay fit (fitspo, sportspo). 1

-shaming and -splaining have existed forever but the ADS is only waking up to this phenomenon now.

There are more categories at the link!

I used to like Angela Merkel, but then I just read the following:

For example, when the Greek crisis erupted, German chancellor Angela Merkel criticized the inclusion of Greece in the eurozone. “We can’t have a common currency when some people get a lot of vacation time and others very little,” she said (Economist 2011), in a clear reference to the countries of southern Europe.

Guillén, Arturo. “Europe: A Crisis Within a Crisis.” International Journal of Political Economy 41.3 (Fall 2012): 41–68.

She is either a complete idiot or a rank hypocrite. What’s your guess?