I’m a New Zealand writer with over thirty years hands-on professional experience as a published author and in publishing. My main interests are in the sciences – physics, particularly, though I’m deeply curious about a lot of stuff, especially the human condition. I have qualifications in writing, music and anthropology among other fields, and hold multiple post-graduate degrees in history. I’m also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at University College, London. I write a lot. My published writing, sold on merit, includes over 550 articles, academic papers, reviews, novellas and short stories, and over 50 books on topics ranging from travel guides to biography, engineering, military and social history. I’ve been published principally by Penguin Random House.
Back when I was working in a corporate communications office the buzz-word was ‘outsourcing’. Anything other than ‘core business’ (which was never fully defined) could be dispensed with in favour of ‘service providers’. That didn’t mean the work went away, but this ‘rightsizing’ did mean that everybody’s job was suddenly under threat, as loyal and … More When outsourcing goes bad – a cautionary tale
This week’s obscure English word is sciapodous. It means someone who has big feet. You could say ‘Bigfoot is sciapodous’, but it might be redundant in that sense. In point of fact, many words with ‘pod’ in them could refer to feet, drawing from the ancient Greek ‘pod’, as in foot. Take ‘podobromhidrosis’, for example, … More The obscure word of the week is sciapodous
How do you want to be remembered? It’s a pertinent question as our current civilisation apparently enters its end times and the focus turns to the way each of us responds to the growing collapse. But it’s also apt, I think, at any time. Historically, the way famous people are remembered flows from a mix … More How do you want to be remembered?
This week’s obscure English word is balter. It means to dance really badly. Which, I have to say, is a fair description of me every time I try. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2020
These days, as endless conspiracy theories about Covid-19 flow through my social media feed, I keep thinking of their grandparent, the Apollo moon hoax conspiracy. There are some surprising similarities. Most of the claims today are to do with Covid-19, which (if we are to believe the conspirators) is a fake virus promoted by the … More Covid-19 conspiracy theory isn’t new – think Apollo
This week’s obscure English word is erubescent. It means something that is reddened or blushed. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2020
I’ve decided magic must be real. Quite often, these days, I’ll start my computer and discover it’s changed, magically, since I shut it down. Basic stuff that worked yesterday suddenly doesn’t. Or I’ll log on to a service I need and have the same experience. Worse, nothing fixes it, and online help doesn’t correlate with … More Magic is real. I have proof
This week’s obscure English word – well, in this case, a term – is blatherskite. It’s a slang term that means somebody who talks at great length without making sense. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2020
I can’t help thinking that the twenty-first century is going to be one of general crisis. We’re seeing the start of it now, and on historical precedent of similar scale things in the past I imagine disruption will carry on for a generation or more, one way or another. It’s not the first time such … More The general crisis of the twenty-first century
This week’s obscure English word is griffonage. It means messy handwriting. It’s actually a pretty good description of my handwriting, which has never been any good since a failed attempt by my primary school to force me into becoming a right-hander. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright … More The obscure word of the week is griffonage
