MathPlus's definitions

ippiteracy

When someone is not piterate, as they are unaware of falsehoods or white lies about the number π, which might elude even long-serving math teachers and exam-smart parents.

Common signs of ippiteracy among students and teachers are: π = 22/7, pi is defined in relation to a circle or limited to geometry, and π = 3 for biblical literalists.

by MathPlus September 10, 2021

ⓥampire

A vaccinated predator who would exploit others’ oft-irrational fears of the coronavirus, with their victims often too frightened or misinformed to expose their deceit.

The pandemic provides once in a lifetime opportunity for ⓥampires from all spheres of life (vaccine manufacturers, politicians, researchers, scammers, …) to prey on gullible or paranoid citizens.

by MathPlus September 11, 2021

Mask

An instrument of oppression or persecution in the eyes of anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, and religious folks, who believe that they won’t be infected because they are divinely protected from any coronaviruses and their variants.

With loved ones and friends succumbing to the delta variant, more and more Trumpublicans and conspiracists in a number of red states are coming to terms that both the mask and the vaccine could protect them from infection and premature death—talks about 666-vaccination or mask oppression have suddenly evaporated.

by MathPlus September 12, 2021

A Mask for Math

When the effort or resourcefulness of tens of thousands of math tutors in Singapore covers up most local school teachers’ poor teaching pedagogies or methodologies and their low enthusiasm or creativity, thus exonerating the latter in making the subject appear dull and boring and unconnected to real life.

If there was a months-long lockdown in Singapore due to the pandemic, except for the thousands of families who can’t afford private tuition for their children, the math grades of the majority of middle-class students wouldn’t significantly suffer, because of a mask for math culture that has permeated the entire educational system for decades.

by MathPlus September 12, 2021

Apple

A fruit of seduction by the devil to the woman when she was together with her other half in the Garden of Eden, from the beginning, as though she needed one to get excited when a strawberry would do.

The apple is like the fruity equivalent of the “unlucky Friday 13,” which has received such a bad press from superstitious folks, who would blame the date for anything that could possibly go wrong on that “evil day.”

by MathPlus September 13, 2021

Fake Math

A term used by those who know beforehand that they don’t stand a chance to pass their math test or exam unless they resort to lying, cheating, or bribery—they often blame the teacher for bias against them, practicing unfair grading, or setting unrealistic or artificial questions that are confusing and open to different interpretations.

Guesstimate how many Trumpublican students in red states every year would scapegoat fake math for their failure to get a passing grade in their middle- or high-school math paper rather than putting in the time and effort to master the math concepts.

by MathPlus September 14, 2021

Personalize John 3:16

When you declare the most quoted verse in the Bible upon your life: "For God so loved me or your name, He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for me or your name.”—when you personally experience His love in your life rather than merely reading or knowing about it.

Like the disciple John, who personalized the Lord's love for him by calling himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved,” you too could personalize John 3:16, so that His love is like a magnifying glass that focuses the heat from the sun over that blade of grass in a field to make it burn.

by MathPlus September 15, 2021