"New Zealand company Nutralife categorises this product as 'Women's Health' and says it's to help 'reduce melanin production'. What are the health benefits of reduced melanin, other than if you're whiter you'll probably get better healthcare?" asks a reader.
The finer points of mansplaining
Mansplaining is not simply men explainingstuff to women, it's men assuming women couldn't possibly know about a certain subject and talking over women. The term originated after Rebecca Solnit wrote an essay about a conversation she had with a man, in which he explained a book she actually wrote. The best examples include your run-of-the-mill obvious mansplain, like this: "I recently met a dude who spent half an hour explaining to me how Spanish dialects work. This was right after I had told him that I grew up in Spain. He had taken Spanish for one year in high school, 20 years ago." And it is not only on social media, it's in real life like this: "Brand new employee came in on his first day and tried to tell me how to do the job that I was training him for, then bitched to our boss that I was training him wrong (still on the first day btw). The manager told the new guy to take over for the day since I *obviously* didn't know how to do my job and I was given a paid day off by my manager. Came in the next day to find the guy had quit."
Epic jargon, dude
A reader with an interest in newly created words joining the English language notices a recently-coined corporate favourite: outplacement. It replaces "made redundant" or "fired". Do you know anymore?
"A recent trip to Hamilton found us eating in a restaurant with a fabulous menu (for people with strong stomachs!) My husband recommends the Happy Farmers in the Pot, they were euphoric!" exclaims Deborah.
Grossed out by unshod Kiwis
A New Zealand tradition tops the AskReddit thread asking for examples of culture shock while travelling. "Barefoot people EVERYWHERE in New Zealand," writes skyfelldown. "In Starbucks, in the mall, on public transit, walking down the street. No shoes, no socks, no f***s given". Then the following conversation: "Seems unhygienic ... Almost everywhere is close to the coast. If they're not, they're close to the giant lake in the middle of the North Island ... Australia [do it] too. The worst offender was yesterday at the mall - the guy was barefoot and the girl he was with was wearing Uggs ... what's wrong with going barefoot? ... I'm scared I might step on some glass, nail, or other sharp things and it probably gets your feet really dirty ... your feet get pretty tough ... sitting in Starbucks and there's a person sitting with their ankle crossed on to their knee and just a disgusting bare foot hanging out ... don't forget all the bacteria we collect on our hands all day ... using them to smear your spit and who knows what all over everything ... It's not true in Auckland ... head to the suburbs or waterfront or Mission Bay/St Heliers and it's barefoot galore ... I remember seeing barefoot kids carrying shoes on their way to school ... It's a Kiwi thing. It makes you closer to nature."
Picture this: What one meal a day looks like in an African conflict zone. Photographer Chris de Bode has brought home the scale of the hardship being endured by local people with this set of simple images.
