Fasters's definitions

Out-of-Order Math

When someone fails to carry out the operations in a math problem correctly, often because they couldn’t remember the rule, or they use their own oft-flawed logic to do so.

John flunked his recent class test, because he’s a victim of out-of-order math—he repeatedly misused the BODMAS rule to simplify arithmetic expressions, and misapplied the procedure to find the inverse of a matrix.

by Fasters January 7, 2023

Pidemic

Short for “Pi Pandemic.” A frightening 2D or 3D mathematical meme or short clip released by some rogue mathematicians or math educators on the number π to terrorize millions of students and their parents, many of whom suffer from math anxiety to a certain degree.

The pidemic is a great awakening among members of the global mathematical community in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, as they’re clueless how to help an oft-math-anxious or semi-innumerate lay public to come to terms with these two evils.

by Fasters September 23, 2022

Pitian

A fan or follower of the number π, who is preoccupied with, or passionate about, her numerical and geometric properties—a pi equivalent of a born-again Christian, whose faith in the mathematical constant is as solid as a house built upon a rock.

Guesstimate the population size of pitians worldwide, who long to experience an aha every now and then, just as Spirit-filled believers who witness those suddenlies, breakthroughs, or miracles in their lives and on those whom they’ve prayed for.

by Fasters December 23, 2022

Pi Star Hotel

A three-star-plus hotel that is popular among lower-middle-class tourists, who want a free-and-easy experience, without being pressured to join local group tours to visit oft-spiritually unclean or demonic places of worship and retail shops (which promise to give a percentage of their profits to the tour guide).

The “fine” city of Singapore plans to build more pi star hotels in coming years to target travelers from emerging economies, who couldn’t afford to stay in a five-star hotel, yet wished to receive a perceived first-class visitors’ treatment.

by Fasters January 14, 2023

Masked by Pi

When a formula looks more complex than it is because it contains the constant π, whose sight or sound often frightens those who suffer from math anxiety.

Guesstimate how many mature students worldwide are reluctant to sign up for short math or statistics courses to upgrade themselves, because they are masked by pi.

by Fasters January 15, 2022

ASAP

Short for “Always Stop And Pray”—when you need to be as smart or sharp as possible in tackling urgent and important matters, by relying on the Holy Spirit (the Third Person in the Trinity) for wisdom and direction for your solution.

The moment I realize that ASAP needn’t always stand for “As Soon As Possible,” I quickly submitted this long-overdue definition for publication.

by Fasters May 14, 2022

SFO

Short for “Sino Flying Object.” A quasi-symmetric (spherical, cylindrical, octagonal, …) object that has recently been spotted (or finally been detected) crossing near “US sensitive sites”—a few of them were shot down by a fighter jet because they allegedly or exaggeratedly posed a surveillance threat to the security of the country, or to the lives of the people.

The US had shot three SFOs or UFOs in three days following the take down of a Chinese spy balloon that floated their sky the previous weekend, but they themselves had hypocritically launched no fewer than a dozen of these slow-moving spy or surveillance objects over the Chinese or Russian airspace since last year.

by Fasters February 13, 2023