Language
Is it time to revisit how we define the word ‘racism’? Early in the 20th century the settled definition became…
Language
We live in a world that seems to have largely abandoned punctuation – those small marks between words that help…
Language
The word ‘emergency’ has been part of the English language since around 1630. Its most common political use today is…
Language
‘Bike shedding’ was coined by British historian and author C. Northcote Parkinson, famous for his book Parkinson’s Law (1957), but…
Language
News reports tell us there has been a small furore over a list of ‘derogatory and offensive terms’ included in…
Language
We all know ‘adult’ the noun, and we know what an ‘adult’ is (‘because,’ as a friend said to me,…
Language
Now a new and (I think) much needed expression: ‘disagreement consent’. It’s a play on a more familiar expression I…
Language
The current prominence of the word ‘gaffe’ is due to the Gaffe Meister himself – Joe Biden. But on investigation…
Language
Here it is! I have finally found one word that will describe the Liberal party in its present state— ‘agathokakological’.…
Language
The word ‘fatigue’ has been part of the English language since at least 1693. It comes from a French source…
Language
The expression ‘to walk back’ has exploded over the news recently. We have been told by the news media that…
Language
A reader (Rosie) has drawn my attention to a new(ish) word: ‘coddiwomple’. Rosie wrote to say that she has been…
Language
Have you noticed the trend to refer to some Australians as ‘First Nations’ people? Those Australians were once called ‘Aboriginal’…
Language
According to news reports Vladimir Putin expected his invasion and conquest of Ukraine to be a ‘cakewalk’. This is originally…
Aussie Language
We are used to words being banned – but now it seems the word police are coming for the word…
Aussie Language
A small award should be presented to the Australian’s Alice Workman for her new coinage. She has given us a…
Aussie Language
Writing in the Daily Telegraph James Morrow referred to something called a preference cascade which he said was a term…
Aussie Language
I have coined a potentially useful new expression: comatose bias. We are told that one of the great problems in…
Aussie Language
As we approach a federal election, for the next few weeks I’ll look at some ‘election lingo’. ballot: Why do…
Aussie Language
Here’s a delightful expression I have just encountered: ‘offence archaeology’. This is the practice of going through the social media…
Aussie Language
A letter writer to the Australian has pointed out that Anthony Albanese appears to have coined a brand-new oxymoron to…
Aussie Language
In his column in the Weekend Australian just before Christmas demographer Bernard Salt expressed his fear that the Australian language…
Aussie Language
This appears to be a case of ‘What were they thinking?’ The good folk at the Macquarie Dictionary have announced…
Aussie Language
Nick Cater has coined what I think is a brilliant new expression the ‘laptop class’. This is his vivid and…
Aussie Language
In a recent piece in the Australian newspaper paper Terry McCrann (the doyen of economics writers — he of the…
