Language
I have written here in the past about the expression ‘weaponised words.’ There are many examples: ‘fascist’, ‘Nazi’ and ‘hard-right’…
Language
A Speccie reader has asked me for the origin of the expression ‘mumbo jumbo’ – and there turns out to…
Language
For a number of years British journalist Philip Howard wrote a weekly language column for the Times in London (he…
Language
It is an exciting moment when I discover a new word – and this time it’s a word that focuses…
Language
Recently I came across the expression ‘weaponised words’– the idea that words with a standard, accepted meaning can be changed…
Language
Have you come across the word ‘transabled’? This is a new one on me, and I find it a frightening…
Language
A ‘sliding doors moment’ is one of those moments in life when a small, seemingly inconsequential decision (or event) goes…
Language
The word ‘gender’ has been part of the English language since at least 1390. It appears to have started at…
Language
The word ‘mulligan’ is new to me – but golfers everywhere will find it familiar. In golf a ‘mulligan’ is…
Language
‘White guilt’ is one of the concepts lying behind the proposed Indigenous Voice. When Prime Minister Albanese announced he had…
Language
This year is the centenary of Vegemite. The classic Australian spread first hit the shelves of local grocery stores in…
Language
Our esteemed editor has drawn my attention to the word ‘ecocide’. It was employed by the Greens Party’s treasury spokesman…
To abolish racism, fix the constitution
Let’s call the activists’ bluff
Language
Australian journalist Miranda Devine (currently working on the New York Post) has drawn our attention to a new word ‘totting’.…
Language
The charity Oxfam has come under fire for issuing a bizarre ‘inclusive’ language guide to staff. The 92-page report warns…
Language
The word ‘manifestation’ has been part of the English language since the 1400s. It comes from the verb ‘to manifest’…
Language
The Church of England is considering scrapping centuries of Christian teaching to give God gender-neutral pronouns. The church has confirmed…
Language
When US President Joe Biden addressed Congress and gave his ‘State of the Union’ address he was (at times) greeted…
Language
Here are two words that I would like to see become the watchwords of where Australia is going in the…
Language
I’ve been tracking the way the word ‘racism’ has changed in recent times. Both the word and the concept of…
Language
Lake Superior State University in the US publishes a list of ‘banished words’– terms that have been so misused or…
Language
Jeremy Butterfield (the former editor-in-chief of Collins dictionaries) has written recently about nursey rhymes, and how they teach the basics…
Language
The Merriam-Webster dictionary people tell me that one of the most looked-up words on their website recently has been ‘archnemesis’…
Language
When we speak English is it fair to say that some accents are better (or better in certain contexts) than…
Language
For some time, the universities of the world have been at the forefront of cancel culture—trying to put woke blinkers…
