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Surprise choice for "Word of the Year"

<p>The Oxford University Press has named its word of the year, and the results are not what you expect. </p> <p>From "Swiftie" (an evid Taylor Swift fan), "situationship" (an informal romantic or sexual relationship)  and "prompt" (an instruction given to an AI program), it's clear that this year's line up was heavily influenced by Gen Z. </p> <p>This year's winner truly speaks volumes about the impact of the younger generation, after results from a public vote reveal that "Rizz" is the word of the year. </p> <p>Rizz is believed to come from the middle of the word charisma, and it is often used to describe someone's ability to attract or seduce someone else. </p> <p>The publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary also said that it can be used as a verb as in to "rizz up"  which means to attract or chat someone up. </p> <p>"It speaks to how younger generations create spaces — online or in person — where they own and define the language they use," the publisher said.</p> <p>"From activism to dating and wider culture, as Gen Z comes to have more impact on society, differences in perspectives and lifestyle play out in language, too."</p> <p>In a news release,  Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said: "Rizz is a term that has boomed on social media, and speaks to how language that enjoys intense popularity and currency within particular social communities — and even in some cases lose their popularity and become passé — can bleed into the mainstream."</p> <p>One of the first instances of a celebrity using it, was when earlier this year <em>Spiderman</em> star Tom Holland said that he had "no rizz whatsoever", during an interview with <em>BuzzFeed</em>. </p> <p>"I have limited rizz," he said at the time, joking about his relationship with co-star Zendaya. </p> <p>Rizz was one of eight words that made it to the shortlist, which included a few other words like: “beige flag”, “parasocial”, “heat dome” and “de-influencing”. </p> <p>Rizz is heavily used online with the hashtag racking up billions of views on TikTok.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p> <p> </p>

Books

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"Is it even legal?": Outrage over pub's "sneaky" surcharge

<p>A Sydney hotel has come under fire online after one customer exposed the popular venue for an unexpected - and apparently undeclared - “late night surcharge”. </p> <p>And after taking to Reddit, that same customer found a wave of support from users who agreed the additional fee was ridiculous, with some even questioning the legalities of it. </p> <p>And while they hadn’t initially revealed the name of the sneaky establishment, after a number of requests from fellow Redditors for a “name and shame”, they eventually disclosed that it had been Sydney’s iconic Oxford Hotel.</p> <p>They began their tale by sharing that they’d just been out with a friend, and had been buying “jugs of beer as rounds”. </p> <p>The first was “purchased at 9:18pm for $24.36”, and wasn’t an issue for the two friends. </p> <p>However, trouble arose at 10:37pm when the poster’s next round came about, and the total came in at $33.50. </p> <p>“I paid for it not looking at the price but Apple Pay has notifications when you pay for things,” they explained, “and I noticed the price difference in the notifications. </p> <p>“When I asked the same staff member who served me he said there was a ‘late night surcharge after 10pm’.” </p> <p>They went on to note that they’d never even heard of a late night surcharge before, and were dismayed by the “30% increase! Not exactly a small increase.” </p> <p>“There’s no signage to notify anyone of the fee after 10pm. I’ve never even heard of this practice in Australia,” they said, before asking whether anyone else had had a similar experience before, and “is it even legal?” </p> <p>When someone noted that “surcharges and semi-forced gratuities are becoming commonplace now unfortunately”, they suggested checking out menus beforehand to determine whether or not a particular establishment would be issuing additional fees. </p> <p>But as one user pointed out, the hotel in question didn’t list the late night charges anywhere on their website. </p> <p>Someone else said that while “late charge surcharging is nothing new”, what the customer had paid “seems somewhat excessive”. </p> <p>“Every time I go out in Sydney these days the whole experience just leaves a bad feeling because I feel like I've just been had by someone,” another said. </p> <p>“Ahh, the reverse happy hour. A sad hour, if you will,” one offered. </p> <p>“So sick of this. It needs to stop. Australian Culture is being killed before our eyes by these greedy establishments not willing to pay their staff living wages,” someone else lamented. </p> <p>And as one bartender added, “so many bars will bump their booze prices up at 10pm and midnight to ‘help pay for staff loading’, but won't actually pay their staff penalty rates. just a little bit of extra money for the big wigs”.</p> <p><em>Images: Facebook</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Students’ removal of Queen’s photo causes ire

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Students in the UK have caused a stir after voting to remove a photograph of the Queen from their university common room.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Postgraduate students at Magdalen College, Oxford, voted to take down the print, with minutes from the meeting noting that “for some students depictions of the monarch and the British monarchy represent recent colonial history.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The move drew criticism from UK Education secretary Gavin Williamson, who tweeted: “Oxford university students removing a picture of the Queen is simply absurd. She is the head of state and a symbol of what is best about the UK. During her long reign she has worked tirelessly to promote British values of tolerance, inclusivity and respect around the world.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a swift response, Dinah Rose, the president of Magdalen College, defended the decision and wrote: “Here are some facts about Magdalen College and HM the Queen. The Middle Common Room is an organisation of graduate students. They don’t represent the College. A few years ago, in 2013 they bought a print of the Queen to decorate their common room.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They recently voted to take it down. Both of these decisions are their own to take, not the College’s. Magdalen strongly supports free speech and political debate and the MCR’s right to autonomy.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She added: “Being a student is about more than studying. It’s about exploring and debating ideas. It’s sometimes about provoking the older generation. Looks like that isn’t so hard to do these days.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rose also said the print would be safely stored in the event the students vote to put the print up once more.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Matthew Katzman, Magdalen’s MCR president, told the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Daily Telegraph</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “It has been taken down. It was decided to leave the common room neutral. That was what this was about. The college will have plenty of depictions of various things but the common room is meant to be a space for all to feel welcome.” </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Magdalen College, Theroyalfamily / Instagram</span></em></p>

Art

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Oxford University creates map of “touch” acceptability

<p>Touch is incredibly personal and it can be hard to know what others’ boundaries are. A recent study from the University of Oxford reveals some interesting truths about acceptability.</p> <p>The study used more than 1,300 men and women from five countries: the UK, Finland, France, Italy and Russia. It asked them to colour in areas on a diagram of the human body where they would feel comfortable being touched by different people, like a romantic partner, friend or stranger. Their answers were used to create a colour coded ‘map’ of the body, which ranked acceptability by relationship and area.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img width="499" height="800" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/34266/touch-acceptability_499x800.jpg" alt="Touch Acceptability"/> </p> <p>Some of the results were unsurprising. Both sexes felt largely uncomfortable being touched by strangers, except on very neutral parts of their bodies like arms and shoulders. Women were more uncomfortable to be touched by male strangers or acquaintances than men were. And everyone agreed that few people outside of partners or close family members should touch them anywhere near their private parts.</p> <p>Researchers found that touch is an important means of maintaining social relationships, even at a time when we are increasingly communicating through the internet or mobile devices. The acceptability of touch is closely associated with the pleasure caused by touching. The greater the pleasure caused by touching an area, the more selective we are in allowing others to touch it.</p> <p>The study also showed that while touch is universal, the context of the relationship between two parties is the key factor in the interpretation of it. For example, we may perceive a certain kind of touch from a close friend as comforting, while the same action from a stranger would be unwelcome. These relationships are not always dictated by time either. A friend we have not seen for a long time would be able to touch us differently to a workmate who we see every day.</p> <p>And it revealed some interesting national traits around touch. The British were the least comfortable with physical touch while the Finns were the most. Italians, usually considered to be a very emotive, physical people in general, were only slightly more comfortable with it than the Brits.</p> <p>What do you think of the research? Share your thoughts in the comments below. </p>

Relationships

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The logic you need to get into Oxford University

<p>Find out if you have the sort of logic needed to get into Oxford University.</p> <p>For his <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/07/can-you-solve-it-would-you-get-into-oxbridge">latest fortnightly puzzle in The Guardian</a></strong></span>, British writer Alex Bellos has posed a question from the 2012 Oxford mathematics admissions test.</p> <p>It's all about the colour of hats being worn by three expert logicians sitting in a row.</p> <p>In each of five scenarios, their father puts either red or blue hats on their heads. Alice can see Bob's and Charlie's hats, but not her own. Bob can see only Charlie's hat. Charlie can see none of the hats. </p> <p>1. Their father puts a hat on each of their heads and says: "Each of your hats is either red or blue. At least one of you has a red hat." Alice then says "I know the colour of my hat." What colour is each person's hat?</p> <p>2. Their father puts a new hat on each of their heads and again says: "Each of your hats is either red or blue. At least one of you has a red hat." Alice then says "I don't know the colour of my hat." Bob then says "I don't know the colour of my hat." What colour is Charlie's hat?</p> <p>3. Their father puts a new hat on each of their heads and says: "Each of your hats is either red or blue. At least one of you has a red hat, and at least one of you has a blue hat." Alice says "I know the colour of my hat." Bob then says "Mine is red." What colour is each person's hat?</p> <p>4. Their father puts a new hat on each of their heads and says: "Each of your hats is either red or blue. At least one of you has a red hat, and at least one of you has a blue hat." Alice then says "I don't know the colour of my hat." Bob then says "My hat is red". What colour is Charlie's hat?</p> <p>5. Their father puts a new hat on each of their heads and says: "Each of your hats is either red or blue. Two of you who are seated adjacently both have red hats." Alice then says "I don't know the colour of my hat." What colour is Charlie's hat?</p> <p>Bellos asked readers to submit only the colour of Charlie's hat.</p> <p>He said the test was set by Oxford for applicants to computer science, mathematics &amp; computer science, and computer science &amp; philosophy.</p> <p>Successful applicants scored 4.73 on average out of five, so it was a good idea to get all the answers right.</p> <p>Of those who tried to answer the puzzle in The Guardian, about 80 per cent got each question right, Bellos said.</p> <p>Logic puzzles about people who are wearing hats but can only see other people's hats date to the 1930s.</p> <p><strong>SPOILER ALERT:</strong><br /> The answers follow, so don't read any further unless you're sure you're ready.</p> <p>1. Alice's hat is red, and the others are blue. It must be that Alice can see that neither of the others has a red hat, so can deduce the colour of her own. Charlie's hat is blue. 83.2 per cent of those who responded to The Guardian column got the colour of Charlie's hat correct.</p> <p>2. Alice must be able to see a red hat, or would be able to deduce the colour of her own hat. Likewise, Bob must be able to see a red hat, or would be able to deduce the colour of his own hat (given Alice's answer). Hence Charlie's hat is red - 74.1 per cent got it right.</p> <p>3. Alice must be able to see two hats of the same colour in order to deduce the colour of her hat. Bob knows this, and so deduces his hat is the same colour as Charlie's. Hence Alice's hat is blue, and Bob's and Charlie's are red - 78.8 per cent were correct.</p> <p>4. Alice must be able to see two hats of opposite colours, or else she would be able to deduce her own hat colour. Bob knows this, so deduces his hat is a different colour from Charlie's. Hence Charlie's hat is blue - 89.2 per cent were right.</p> <p>5. If Bob and Charlie had different colour hats, Alice would know that she and Bob both had red hats. Therefore Bob and Charlie both have red hats - 82.7 per cent right.</p> <p><em>First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz.</span></strong></a></em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2017/01/childrens-logic-puzzle-stumps-adults/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>The children’s logic puzzle stumping adults</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2017/01/can-you-solve-these-5-tricky-riddles/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Can you solve these 5 tricky riddles?</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2016/07/are-you-ever-too-old-to-train-your-brain/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Are you ever too old to train your brain?</strong></em></span></a></p>

Mind

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The word that was invented the year of your birth

<p>The Oxford English Dictionary has created an online “birthday word” generation where you can find out which word came into use in the year you were born.</p> <p>Any year from 1900 to 2004 can be searched to find out which word had the first known usages in that year. For example, if you were born in 1953 your “birthday word” is frenemy (A person with whom one is friendly, despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry; a person who combines the characteristics of a friend and an enemy), whereas if you were born in 1948, the word was TV.</p> <p>We’ve compiled the birthday words from the year from 1936 to 1956 below. To find out more years visit the <a href="http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/12/oed-birthday-words/" target="_blank"><strong>Oxford English Dictionary site here.</strong></a></p> <p><strong><img width="659" height="591" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/15635/birthday-words_659x591.jpg" alt="Birthday Words"/></strong></p> <p><strong>Related links: </strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2016/01/age-proof-your-brain/">8 ways to age-proof your brain</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2016/01/clever-ways-to-remember-almost-anything/">Clever ways to remember almost anything</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2016/01/how-to-get-out-of-a-mental-rut/">7 mental shifts to get yourself out of a rut</a></em></strong></span></p>

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