DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
DOG’S BIRTHDAY: Apparently among the 10 worst sickie excuses. PICTURE: indartxo/www.freeimages.com
• National Sickie Day was marked in the UK on Monday – which statistics show is the worst day in the UK for absenteeism – and to ‘celebrate’ the occasion, British employment law experts ELAS published a list of the 10 worst excuses UK bosses heard last year. They reportedly included that it was an employee’s dog’s birthday and they needed to arrange a party, that a friend was on annual leave so they couldn’t get a lift to work, that the dog had eaten their shoes and that their only pair of work trousers was in the wash. Others more typically involved drinking or partying too much.
• The hopes and dreams of 1,000 people have been carved into massive blocks of ice in the newest tourist attraction to open in frigid Siberia. The concept of the ‘Ice Library of Wonders’ was announced last year with a call for people to send in their “dreams and wishes”. Responses reportedly came from across the world with the first 1,000 etched onto massive blocks of ice arranged in a labyrinth spanning some 800 square metres at a ski resort. While entries included the dream of a Chinese couple to climb Mt Everest and a Canadian’s hopes of winning the lottery, ‘ice librarian’ Maxim Khvostishkov said most people simply wanted “health for their family, to bear children, and a world without war”.
• ‘Binge-watch’ (“to watch many or all episodes of (a TV series) in rapid succession”), ‘humblebrag’ (“to make a seemingly modest, self-critical, or casual statement or reference that is meant to draw attention to one’s admirable or impressive qualities or achievements”), ‘Seussian’ (“of, relating to, or suggestive of the works of Dr Seuss”) and ‘throw shade’ (“to express contempt or disrespect for someone publicly especially by subtle or indirect insults or criticisms”) are among 1,000 new words added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Other new additions include ‘conlang’ (“a constructed language, like Elvish, Klingon, and Dothraki”), ‘truther’ (“one who believes that the truth about an important subject or event is being concealed from the public by a powerful conspiracy”) and an old word that was dropped from the dictiuonary but has now been readded – ‘snollygoster’ (“a shrewd, unprincipled person”).
