MathPlus's definitions

Trumpificate

Also known as a “Trump certificate.” A fake Covid-19 vaccine passport that could be purchased on the black market or dark web, or sometimes even downloaded free of charge by clicking a link and filling in one’s personal details.

Guesstimate how many trumpificates are in circulation worldwide as anti-vaxxers play cat and mouse with the authorities, which don’t have the manpower nor the knowhow to expose those digitally savvy criminals.

by MathPlus November 15, 2021

Insomgebra

Unable to sleep because of one’s fear of failing an upcoming algebra test, because of low confidence or poor self-esteem, or an irrational fear working with letters that represent numbers.

Jenny suffered from severe insomgebra and loss of appetite over the weekend before she sat for her math paper on Monday morning.

by MathPlus October 31, 2017

Why Can’t Math Be Like Sex?

If teachers and textbook authors would creatively present the oft-sterile math curriculum in a form that would get students excited about the beauty of the subject, by not adulterating but contextualizing the content—by letting learners see both the mathematical forest and the trees.

Mathematics is too important to be left in the hands of mostly uncreative authors or publishers; as a result, teachers and parents would need to sexify the most boring subject in school—they need to ask, “why can’t math be like sex?” to lure unmotivated or mathophobic students.

by MathPlus December 1, 2018

Mathematical Typhoon

A cyclone or hurricane that is named after a famous mathematician—like math, its presence never fails to instill fear in the general population.

Pascal is expected to hit the Philippines by early Monday morning—which happens to be a public holiday—after the mathematical typhoon had caused havoc in southern China.

by MathPlus March 24, 2017

No Calculators Allowed

When students’ reliance on a scientific or graphing calculator prevents them from being fluent in performing certain basic operations, such as factorizing a function, finding the zeros of a cubic polynomial, and standardizing a normal distribution from the Statistical Tables—ritually pressing a set of keys often conceals their poor understanding or mastery of these routines.

If only math teachers and tutors would implement the “No Calculators Allowed” rule, students would be manually forced to learn the routine or tedious steps in getting the answer to some intermediate step of a problem.

by MathPlus October 31, 2021

Death by Mask

The number of people worldwide who have died not of the coronavirus but accidentally or frighteningly because of the face mask, be it in the incorrect way they handle or wear the mask, which leads to breathing difficulty; or old or weak-hearted folks who were shocked by a masked family member, who wanted to pull a scary prank on them.

During this pandemic crisis, which is likely to be higher: death by math or death by mask?

by MathPlus July 4, 2021

Covid-👶

When some high-GDP countries whose low fertility rate is below their mortality rate are offering baby bonus cash gifts to their citizens who give birth during the coronavirus pandemic—the authorities don’t want the plague to prevent their nation from having “corona babies.”

Thanks to Covid-👶, Singaporean families could receive up to $35,000 as Baby Support Grant if they planned to add a new member to their family to help arrest the population decline.

by MathPlus October 11, 2020