Tag Archives: haiku

Adult Math Goes Poetic

Ex-president Trump’s criminal hush-money trial in New York provides much fodder for comedians and political pundits, not to say, math educators and poets, to poke fun at the lasagna of lies exposed by the prosecution and defense teams.

Below is a math meme that was X-ed, when the ex-Commander in Cheat’s defense lawyer was cross-examining his “ex-fixer” in the court case.

Political Math: When two serial liars failed to convince a jury of recreational math educators from the “fine” city of Singapore that they’d be exempted from a mock high school test paper.

@MathPlus on May 20, 2024

5G Dishonesty

Thanks to Mr. Pinocchio and his once-most-loyal lawyer, who said he’d take a bullet for his ex-client, even math teachers and writers (and pseudo-poets) around the globe couldn’t resist from indulging in some poetic licence.

A Tale of Two Liars

One lied n times, but repented at the (n+1)th time.
The other keeps lying for the nⁿth time.

Once, they’re lying buddies.
Now, they’re lying enemies.

The seasoned liar served his time.
The serial liar will serve his soon.

@MathPlus on May 17, 2024

Below is a haiku that was hatched in the aftermath of the revelation that pseudonyms were contractually used in the hush money payment.

The Fart of the Deal

Dennison denied
having fun with Peterson.
Even Satan laughed.

X-Rated Calculus

Another “adult math” meme that was tweeted to irreverently expose the ex-president’s constant denial of his affair with a former porn star is the following:

Political Calculus: The Real Analysis of the Trump-Daniels Affair. Meme posted by Shivam Kr (Jan. 28, 2022) to the “Mathematical Mathematics Memes” page.

@MathPlus on April 17, 2024

More MAGA Haikus

Let’s end with four haikus based on the duo’s decades-long manifold lies.

The Hush-Money Case

Your lies tickle us.
“Election interference”?
It’s not—it’s jail time.

@SingaporeLite on April 21, 2024

L___I___A___R___S

The bigly liar
and his ex-“fixer,” who’s jailed,
but he’s still free.

They praised each other,
but they each deserve jail time
for their lies and crimes.

Among loyalists,
he pardoned some jailed buddies,
not his loyal “friend.”

@SakamotoMath on May 20, 2024

© Yan Kow Cheong, May 20, 2024.

Life of Pi and Pi of Life

For the majority of us who aren’t born or blessed with a mathematical or symbol-minded brain, but nevertheless appreciate the austere beauty of mathematics, writing about mathematics and math education is the second best thing we’d do to console ourselves that we needn’t be first-rate mathematicians to enjoy the language of science and technology, or to appreciate the science of patterns.

Some mathematicians write novels under a pseudonym to avoid any suspicion from their faculty bosses; others compose limericks and haikus as a creative outlet to showcase their hidden poetic talents. And for the rest of us who are neither novelists nor poets, maybe submitting some definitions to Urban Dictionary, by coining new mathematical words, or redefining old ones, could be the first step to activating that atrophied right part of our brain, which is allegedly responsible for creativity.

On this Pi Day, let me share with fellow math educators eleven approved definitions related to the irrational and transcendental pi. Don’t ask me how many times I got rejected and needed to resubmit some of these definitions again, before the Urban Dictionary editors decided to approve them.

Pre-Pi Day

Pre-Pi Day seems to have been serially downvoted and subsequently deleted to prevent digital abuse, because the approved entry can no longer be accessed.

Be Rejection Proof

Rejection isn’t failure. We keep refining or redefining any rejected definitions until the editors have zero excuses to reject the resubmitted entries. I wished I’d share some recipe for these approved pi definitions, but any attempt to offer some tips to increase a math educator’s chances of getting these math words or terms approved would probably be futile, to say the least.

Over time, although I’ve managed to reduce the odds of rejection, however, some submissions inevitably end up in the little red book of the mean editors—maybe these word doctors had a bad day, or simply because I was submitting some “mathematical crap” that caused me to receive emails like the following:

Urban Dictionary – Pi-rated was not published

Thanks for your definition of Pi-rated!

A few volunteer editors read your definition and decided to not publish it. Don’t take it personally!

Pi-rated
The term to describe any faux facts about the irrational number pi.

On Pi Day, our teacher tricked us with some pi-rated math:
pi is a rational number (22/7);
pi has a different value on the moon that on earth;
pi has a value of three in the Bible.

It’s never too late to be mathematically playful, by playing your part in submitting some irreverent mathematical definitions to enliven your math lessons.

A blessed Pi Day to everyone.

© Yan Kow Cheong, March 14, 2019.

17 Theomatical Haikus for Math Educators

Composing some Theomatics-related haikus may prove therapeutic for stressful math educators, who are prone to overusing their left part of the brain. Why not let these 17-syllabled verses reactivate some atrophied part of your grey matter? Who knows? This right-brained activity may indirectly help rekindle your mathematical creativity!

The Trinity

The True Living God
Ever Three and ever One
A mystery, indeed!

Christ And Mathematics Education (C.A.M.E)

Come to worship Him
Christ and math education
Join ACMS

Theomatics, Anyone?

Teach math Christianly 
As an act of true worship
It sure honors Him

Picture

Two Conference Proceedings of the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences (ACMS)

Pi in the Sky

The Biblical pi
Is a rational number
From the Book of Kings

π = 3.14 and John 3:16

So close, yet so far
Rational and eternal
The union is null.

The X-tian Pi

The true Christian life
Is like the contextual pi
Constantly changing

Picture

The molten sea as described in 1 Kings 7:23. © The Golem Press

CHRISTmaths

Learning math with God
It’s time to take up your cross
To shake up your brain

Picture

facebook.com/CHRISTmaths

A Divine Paradox

100 percent man
And 100 percent God, too
What a paradox!

God’s Nature

The nature of God
1 + 1 + 1 (mod 2)
Same, yet different

The Most Quoted Verse

What’s John 3:16?
God’s numerical message
Of His Love for us

Picture

A treat for the mind, the eyes, and the spirit

 

Singapore Math

The Model Method
A blessed strategy
For problem solvers

TIMSS & PISA

A little red dot
Has blessed math educators
From all walks of life

Our Servant Math

In one God we serve
May His Spirit guide us
To make math serve us

The Mathematical Book of Life

Conjectures and Proofs
The Great Mathematician
Will bless you with both

Picture

2 Kings 3:16 Calligraphy by Andrzej Kot (Poland)

What’s Prayer?

When illogic reigns
When 1 + 1 is not 2
When naught can be one

One Life, Two Unions

One plus one is one.
Then, one plus one turns to 3.
One plus one turns nought.

Primes & Priests

Both are hard to find.
They hold the key to success.
Have faith in them both!

Picture

Calligraphy by Hermann Zapf (Germany)

 

Reference

Yan, K. C. (2011). Mathematical haikus for Kiasuswww.singaporemathplus.com

© Yan Kow Cheong, May 18, 2013.