Language
‘Dhimmitude’ is a word that is almost unknown in the Western world. But it is a vitally important word, because…
Language
The ‘Great Game’ is an expression largely forgotten these days. The compound noun ‘the Great Game’ seems to have been…
Language
The enemy of ‘common sense’ is ‘ideology’. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy says ‘ideology’ means ‘beliefs and values held by…
Language
The late, great Rod Liddle in one of his classic columns fulminated against what he called the most ‘irritating words’.…
Language
Eric wants to know why a fruitless and pointless activity is called a ‘wild goose chase’. It seems that around…
Language
The news report said that drugs and a number of weapons including grenades were seized during a police raid on…
Language
What words do you put at the end of an email? Or at the end of a letter? (Does anyone…
Language
Writing in the Daily Telegraph James Morrow pointed out that the Albanese government suffers from ‘tall poppy syndrome’– dividing the…
Language
One classic bit of the Aussie verbal culture (with us for many years) is the expression ‘beyond the black stump’.…
Language
A radio talkback caller described many of the activities of the bureaucrats living in the Canberra bubble as being nothing…
Language
Sometimes I worry about what is happening to higher education – not just here, but around the English-speaking world. My…
Language
The word of the moment is undoubtedly ‘monocultural’. In her take-no-prisoners speech at the National Press Club Pauline Hanson said…
Language
I ran into James Morrow in the corridor the other day – and he told me that he thought he…
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‘Codswallop’ means ‘Nonsense, rubbish, drivel’. The experts at the Oxford think they have nailed it down. They write, ‘Popularised in…
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A report in Perspectives on Psychological Science last April said that people are each speaking about 120,000 fewer words every…
Language
When ‘lie’ was banned by the Speaker of the House as unparliamentary language, I wondered if it was time to…
Language
Speccie reader Tim writes: ‘I’m interested to know when (and why) “partner” took on its new meanings. Years ago, I…
Language
When Donald Trump says he is ready for military action he often says he (or, rather the US military) is…
Language
My rage against the journalistic abuse of ‘populist/populism’ continues. As I have pointed out in the past, the meaning of…
Language
There are some silly people (in the US more than here) who like to claim that President Trump is suffering…
Language
John writes: ‘Here’s a curly one for you, Kel: what about the word Islam? It seems a strange word. Can…
Language
‘Hypocorism’ is another strange and wonderful word (hip-OCK-ah-riz-um.) The Oxford’s definition is: ‘pet name’. But there is a bit more…
Language
It was one hundred years ago this year that the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova toured Australia and New Zealand…
Language
There is a bit of water in the Persian Gulf that is in the news almost every day now –…
Language
There I was, relaxing one evening, when my phone burbled with a text. It was our distinguished editor with a…
