Numerati's definitions

Purrvert

Someone who is very attracted to cats or to anything that is even remotely related to the feline family.

It’s no surprise that Sally’s friends call her a purrvert, because she likes splurging on Hello Kitty and Garfield collectibles even when she’s overseas.

by Numerati July 11, 2024

Mom Math

The maternal equivalent of “girl math.” When mentally stressed, resourceful, or street-smart mothers share tips on digital platforms like TikTok and Instagram how they plan their hectic schedules around their children’s sleeping or waking hours, or how they stretch their money to meet their little ones’ needs and wants, without experiencing a mental meltdown.

Mom math is applying home calculus to the family life, by maximizing love, joy, and peace (or minimizing fear, pain, and stress) for family members from limited time or resources.

by Numerati October 12, 2023

What’s the Point of Pi?

The many whys that promoted mathematicians and math educators (or even nonmath people like artists and creatives) to toy around with the number π for centuries, be it to prove a beautiful theorem, promote the constant in popular culture (art, fashion, perfume, cellphone, movie, and the like), collaborate as a community, challenge tradition, leave a mathematical legacy, or show their intelligence.

Like art and philosophy, pi mesmerizes both math and nonmath people in every corner of the globe. No wonder, those outside the pi community would often ask: What’s the point of pi?

by Numerati October 16, 2024

Singapori Math

A kind of alien math from a rebel island that was once part of Malaysia, where they learn and teach math word problems in a local dialect called Singlish, using rectangles, lines, and dotted lines, which the people there call “bar models,” with most of them looking arguably ugly.

Local teachers told an Englishman that Singapori Math is a rojak or mélange of methodologies and pedagogies, with ingredients from both the East and the West—when the island was trying to solve its population’s high innumeracy rate in the seventies.

by Numerati March 15, 2024

Swiftie Math

Also known as the numerology of Taylor Swift, which revolves around the number 13. From Taylor’s birthdate to her flight from Tokyo to Super Bowl 58 (5 + 8 = 13)—a trip that would take her approximately 13 hours—to attend her 13th NFL game this season, which is taking place on February 11 (2 + 11 = 13) with the Kansas City Chiefs facing the San Francisco 49ers (4 + 9 = 13). Also, adding her ubiquitous 13 to her boyfriend Travis’s #87 Chiefs’ jersey yields the perfect score 100.

Swiftie math provides math teachers worldwide a golden opportunity to expose millions of oft-math-anxious students-Swifties to the pseudoscience of numbers.

by Numerati February 11, 2024

Mathematician

A traditionally white male chauvinist with a high IQ but low EQ, who is often stereotyped as someone who is likely to remain single, and if he ever gets married, the odds of his getting separated or divorced are pretty high, because his proofs take priority over people and pets.

True or False: Mathematicians tend to become suspicious, schizophrenic, or suicidal (or all three) as they age.

by Numerati July 2, 2024

π%

The unverifiable percentage of time oft-morally bankrupt or mathematically challenged politicians while in office have pretended or perceived to put people first before profits. Or the hopeful probability that the souls of billionaires and multimillionaires worldwide could be saved before their last heartbeat.

The statistical percentage the Commander in Cheat was caught telling the truth, especially before victims of natural calamities, or when meeting with rogue heads of state, is estimated to be less than π%.

by Numerati July 10, 2025