Academic English

PHOTO Next to Milford Beach, Auckland, New Zealand ACADEMIC WORD Oblique means indirect. The word oblique comes from mathematics, where it refers to angles which are not 90, 180 or 360 degrees. But it is also used to describe a message that is deliberately indirect. She made an oblique reference to my lack of experience. QUIZ Which one of these sentences is NOT correct? His speech was widely interpreted as an oblique criticism of Government policy. I prefer to set my desk at an oblique angle to the window. We are taking an oblique route to avoid the traffic. The film makes several oblique references to contemporary politics. VIDEO This is a TED talk by Tim Harford about the advantages of messy problems - problems and situations that seem uncomfortable and disorganised but can stimulate people to find more creative and successful solutions. I have inserted comprehension questions in the video and added a list of interesting vocabulary at the end. To see the lecture, click on the url below (or copy and p