Aussie Life
Language
Is it just me, or have others noticed that heterosexual couples have lost access to the words ‘husband’ and ‘wife’?…
Aussie Life
If you asked a roomful of Poms to list Winston Churchill’s greatest achievements, few would put ‘introducing the minimum wage’…
Aussie Language
The expression ‘unconscious bias’ is back in the headlines. First came the good news that Oxford’s Somerville college had rescinded…
Kiwi Life
For New Zealanders to be losing our democracy may be due to sheer carelessness, ignorance, or even stupidity, not to…
Kiwi Language
Nancy Pelosi succeeded in banning ‘mother’ from appearing in the paperwork of Congress. Now the ANU’s Gender Institute Handbook wants…
Aussie Life
The most powerful ad I created for David Cameron’s 2010 election campaign was a billboard featuring a still from a…
Aussie Language
A Speccie reader has asked if it is linguistically permissible to label the tactics of climate catastrophists as ‘brainwashing.’ The…
Aussie Life
It’s likely that 2021 will see the last walkers freely ascend the summit of Mt Warning in northern New South…
Aussie Language
The word of the past decade (2011-2020) is ‘fake news.’ That, at least, is the opinion of the fine folk…
Aussie Language
The North American Scrabble Players Association, has issued a list of 236 banned words – all deemed to be ‘offensive…
Aussie Life
Has any speech by an American politician ever received more attention in the Australian media than Joe Biden’s inauguration speech?…
Aussie Lingo
Every other day some minor celebrity complains of being ‘trolled’ on social media. The answer is to get off social…
Aussie Life / Language
Simon Collins Can you remember when ‘We live in interesting times’ was an acceptable response to the disruptions caused by…
Christmas Covid Outlaw
I was sitting with one other person in a sterilised public hospital reception area waiting to be tested for COVID…
Woke for kids
Now that hate-speech has been recognised as an act of physical violence, using non-problematic language has never been more important.…
Language notes
Word-of-the-year of the Year It’s that time of year once again – the season when dictionaries announce their choice for…
Aussie Life / Language
Simon Collins Contrary to popular belief, the largest and deadliest constrictors do not kill with speed and ferocity. Rather, having…
Aussie Life / Language
Simon Collins Things must be getting back to normal again in Australia if we’re arguing about the wording of the…
Aussie Life & Language
Simon Collins A British newspaper once ran a TV ad extolling the virtues of journalistic objectivity. ‘Point of view’, which…
Aussie Life & Language
Tony Letford In a recent article in the Weekend Australian, Alison Broinowski refers to ‘America’s unjustified atom bombing of Japan’…
Aussie Life
Simon Collins As soon as distance ceases once again to be a tyranny for Australians I will visit my elderly…
Aussie Life & Language
Michael Scammell Coming out of Melbourne lockdown is like coming down from drugs. Or more precisely coming down from the…
Aussie Life & Language
Simon Collins I have been wondering what whale tastes like. There must be quite a few Australians who know. After…
Aussie Life & Language
Brendan Ward A re-run of Cathy Freeman’s heart-stopping 400 metre race at the Sydney Olympics in September 2000 recently animated…
Aussie Life
It is the season of hyperbole. Conservative columnists are finding parallels for Dan Andrews’ pandemic policy in Mao’s Great Leap…
