Posts Tagged: culture

  • AI generated illustration showing some key words of the Tour de France

    How to talk the language of the Tour de France

    I love the Tour de France. It combines beautiful landscapes with thrilling sports action. There is colour, drama, controversy, charismatic sportsmen, crashes, tactics, speed and endurance. The first Tour de France was held in 1903 and the development of the race defined endurance cycling. The gruelling rides over the mountain passes had never been contemplated […]

  • A naturist (nudist) and a naturalist are attending the Cumbria Natrure Festival.

    Naturist versus naturalist

    There is a nature festival in Cumbria (North England) next week that has run into a small, although highly predictable problem. There are two groups of people buying tickets. One group will be dressing up sensibly to protect themselves as they creep through the undergrowth hoping to discover birds, insects and other interesting things. The […]

  • A group of young men mogging each other with Mr WOTW watching on.

    Mogging and maxxing in the manosphere

    I grew up in rural NSW; my father was a vet; and later I studied science and graduated as a zoologist. These meant in my childhood I watched bulls, rams, roosters and other male farm animals posing, presenting and fighting to get the attention of female farm animals. If you live in the city you […]

  • A couple of young workers being bullied by a couple of older workers -- represents the cause of quiet quitting.

    Quiet quitting—the workplace war

    I don’t know if you have noticed over the last few years that there has been a whole new vocabulary develop around workplace behaviours. Much of it has arisen as Gen-Z and millennial (Gen Y) workers try to battle with the people management failures of the Gen-Y and Gen-X management class. Much of the vocabulary […]

  • Quady McCawface and Word of the Week man having a glass of wine. Quady is my tribute to boatfacing.

    Boatfacing—introducing Quady McCawface

    Let me introduce you to Quady McCawface. He is a giant teddy bear and a fanatical All Black’s supporter. He is the alter ego of my friend Ra Tawhiti, Maori and one-eyed AB supporter (if that is not a tautology). Quady and I watch Bledisloe games together—me supporting the Wallabies and he the ABs. The […]

  • Merkin advertisement on the Skim website

    Merkin—smirking at merkin

    I love writing about unusual words. One of the words that I have always wanted to address is “merkin” but it has never been quite the right time … until now (17 October 2025). A merkin is a pubic wig mostly for women. It was something that was once used by prostitutes in the 15th […]

  • 2-Tone ska—black and white figures skanking to a bit of ska music

    SKA and REGGAE

    I had a couple of my young rugby mates over for a few drinks last weekend. I found myself being the only old, white English imperialist at our gathering of me, a Tongan, Cook Islander and Maori. As the night went on, Ra and Tyrone (Matt was long gone by then) were playing reggae songs […]

  • Last week the world witnessed what may be the most famous canoodle in modern history. During a Coldplay concert in Boston, the stadium kisscam landed on two executives—Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot—caught in a canoodle that has gone viral.

    Canoodle of the week

    Last week the world witnessed what may become the most famous canoodle in modern history. During a Coldplay concert in Boston, the stadium kiss-cam landed on two executives—Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot—caught in what was described as a canoodle, the clip went viral worldwide. Unfortunately for the romantic couple, Mr Byron, the now ex-CEO of […]

  • An AI generated image of the world as a peeled potato

    Rösti geography

    We’ve got a German hockey player (Xaver) billeted with us at the moment. I served him some schnitzels a few weeks ago, and served them with rosti and sauerkraut. I quite enjoy cooking rösti (pronounced ruu-shti) to go with schnitzels. It’s a little more trouble than doing mash—grated potato with the excess water squeezed out, […]

  • A cartoon from Punch magazine showing Punch (the character) visiting an ailing John Bull representing Britain.

    The origin of cartoon in Punch magazine

    Last week I had a look at the word ‘illustration’. This week to stay in the same world I want to tell you the story about the word ‘cartoon’, because the reading I did last week reminded me of this great little story. The word histories of illustration and cartoon are quite different but they […]

  • AI generated image of Santa singing into a microphone representing a songageddon.

    Christmas songageddons

    I have seen a fair few Christmases and I still get nostalgic for the spirit of Christmas.  I am a traditionalist and still see the celebration in the context of the Christian nativity and gospel stories of the birth of Jesus. So I love listening to the great carols such as Jingle Bells, Silent Night, […]

  • Groteske Komödie in den Zeichnungen von Lodovico Ottavio Burnacini (1636-1707). This scene shows three figures: Arlecchino between his companion Brighella in a white costume with brown decorative cords and a thick nurse from the people, which should perhaps be embodied by a man

    Harlequin and commedia dell’arte

    Harlequin is one of those intriguing words that we come across commonly but its origins are not quite as familiar. English has adopted the word harlequin to mean a distinctive multi-coloured pattern. And we also know that Harlequin is a theatre character. But how does it fit together and what is the origin of the name? […]