MathPlus's definitions

Harriet Hageman

The female equivalent of chameleon-politician Lindsey Graham. A label for a female politician who operates like a modern-day Judas, by putting position or profit over principles or people—for example, she would call a corrupt presidential candidate racist and xenophobic, but when he later backed her against an opponent who is a critic of him, she would start perpetuating the lie that the ex-president didn’t get re-elected because the election was “rigged.”

Could a morally bankrupt Harriet Hageman function effectively or properly during her term in office, when those under her already have a low opinion of her due to her yo-yo ethical behaviors?

by MathPlus August 17, 2022

Pythagorean Diet

When math geeks tell others that they eat or use zero animal products like honey, seafood, egg and diary, fish, and meat—named after Pythagoras, the Greek vegetarian mathematician-turned-numerologist.

Alt-right Trumpists and QAnonists never fail to remind each other that Adolf Hitler adhered strictly to a Pythagorean diet during his years-old tyrannical rule, unlike their Insurrectionist-in-Chief boss, who occasionally craves for junk food.

by MathPlus March 4, 2021

Voodoo Math

Also known as “Haiti Math”—voodoo is an unofficial religion practiced in Haiti. Math word problems that use zombies or monsters as their characters to teach dark problem solving.

An example of a grade two voodoo math question is: “The line graph shows the weekly number of zombies that were caught by the police during the six-week nationwide lockdown. Use the diagram to answer the following questions.

a) How many more zombies were caught in April than in May?
b) If the zombies were able to bite a victim before they were caught, what is the least number of zombie bites that took place during the entire lockdown?”

by MathPlus May 12, 2021

Mr. Right

A nickname given to a math teacher who always reminds his students not to assume that an angle in a geometric figure is ninety degrees, although it may deceptively look like it is a right angle.

Students of Mr. Wright call him “Mr. Right Wright” or “Mr. Right Squared,” because he won’t give them any marks if they assume without proof that a triangle is a right triangle.

by MathPlus January 18, 2019

The Model Method

Also known as “Singapore model method,” “bar model method,” or “bar modeling.” A problem-solving visualization strategy whereby the problem solver makes use of rectangles or bars to draw a model diagram to represent how the known and unknown quantities in a given problem situation are related, using a part-whole or comparison model.

Using the model method to solve a word problem involving fraction, ratio, or percentage allows the mind’s eye to better grasp the problem situation by making tacit knowledge more explicit or visible—it’s like a “look-see” proof to a problem for kids.

by MathPlus October 5, 2021

I Safe! You Safe! We Safe!

A half-broken English slogan used by construction companies in Singapore to remind their workers to be accident-conscious—zero success is the goal to preventing any casualties, accidents, or deaths.

If a grammatically incorrect slogan can get people to stop and comment, its impact in conveying the intended message is likely to be greater—I Safe! You Safe! We Safe! looks like a potential winner.

by MathPlus June 8, 2017

Why Trump Cooks the Books

When the serially bankrupt Liar-in-Chief has zero choice but to continually massage the numbers to keep his oft-shady businesses afloat, because failure to do so would “make Trump bankrupt again” and in all probability land him behind bars.

For a corrupt “billionaire” who is showing sign of declaring bankruptcy a seventh time, it’s no surprise why Trump cooks the books to avoid incompetency, insolvency, infamy, and imprisonment.

by MathPlus February 25, 2021