MathPlus's definitions

North Korean Variant

When Dictator Kim’s rogue scientists are covertly working on a few hybrids of presently known corona variants with the aim of releasing them into unfriendly nations that want to end his three-generation dynasty, or that refuse to remove any trade sanctions against the recluse kingdom.

What are the odds that the detection of the deadliest North Korean variant on US shores and those of its allies could lead to the flattening of Pyongyang?

by MathPlus May 31, 2021

V-Souls

Short for “Vaccinated Souls.” When unjabbed saved souls might temporarily be denied entry at Pearly Gates until they present their vaccination certificate, in which case they would be sent back to Earth to get their WHO-approved shot before they could enjoy the eternal privileges of their stress- and suffering-free status.

Guesstimate how many born-agains, not considered V-souls, would be turned away in 2021, who failed to take into account that few angels were trained to detect any asymptomatic corona cases.

by MathPlus June 24, 2021

Musk Math

Brain-unfriendly math questions that leverage on the wealth of South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, whom mainland Chinese worship as “King of Mars” or “Rocket Man” for building flying cars and colonising the cosmos—they view Mr. Musk as a coldblooded god, compared to Jack Ma, whom they call a “performing monkey.”

Two Musk Math questions are:
a) Guesstimate how many face masks China could produce from billionaire Musk’s obscene wealth.
b) If Mr. Musk spent ten thousand dollars every day, would he have enough money left by the time he experienced his last heartbeat?

by MathPlus March 12, 2021

Exclamation Point

A question mark that has been straightened out by God, if you put your faith in Him for things you don’t understand—when you are in the valley where life seems unfair, yet you wait upon His grace and goodness to turn things around.

Whenever you find yourself in those dark places (breakup, betrayal, death, debt, divorce, hurt, job loss, sickness, …), know that God can turn your question marks into exclamation points.

by MathPlus December 30, 2018

Native Math

A math theorem, formula, or method that originates from a particular country—for example, a deductive proof in plane geometry is unmistakably Greek, while a visual proof has a Chinese or Indian flavor.

In this age of regional or international collaboration among members of the mathematics community, when co-authoring a journal article often involves contributors of different nationalities, we can only expect native math to be the odd one in a sea of even hybrids.

by MathPlus December 2, 2018

Cecaporeans

Naturalized Singaporeans who are often faulted or scapegoated for stealing jobs from locals, especially from retrenched middle-aged university and polytechnic graduates, who now have to work as cab drivers or Grab food delivery riders to make a living— Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) has so far been a one-sided trade agreement whereby India has benefited a thousand times more than Singapore, with tens of thousands of Indian graduates from oft-dubious universities currently working in a hundred-odd industries in the island state.

What percents of Cecaporeans had successfully used their fake degrees to secure employment in the “fine” city of Singapore? How many of them were recruited thanks to cronyism and old boys’ networks?

by MathPlus November 18, 2021

Donald Trump

The name of a barking dog that can’t bite, so over time people have got used to tolerating its noise pollution, which could cause an earache or headache at times, when it doesn’t get what it wants.

During the rut, Donald Trump gets pretty aggressive when it has to fight with other domineering dogs to lure the bitch of choice.

by MathPlus October 7, 2021