Aussie Life
Language
Every so often I like to share with you new words being added to dictionaries. Dictionary.com has just added 566…
Aussie life
There was a time when Australians prided themselves on their nose for bulls–t and for their willingness to call it…
Language
One of the powers of language is that it can give us the words (the tools) to think about our…
Aussie life
Seven Days in May, a novel written in 1962 and turned into a film in 1964, concerns a planned coup…
Language
I need to loudly lament (once again) the deceptive misuse of the word ‘mistake’ by people who have a black…
Aussie life
Presumably, you don’t get to become head of football’s governing body in a football-mad country like Spain without putting in…
Language
Here’s a brand new Australian political expression I’ve just coined: ‘cane toad politics’. I expect it to take its place…
Aussie life
Six years ago the ABC posted an article online about William Crowther, a prominent 19th-century Tasmanian politician, a statue of…
Language
A national survey has found 64 per cent of Jewish students say they’ve experienced anti-Semitism at university. At Sydney University…
Aussie life
Holding dual Australian and UK citizenship is only problematic when both countries reach the final rounds of a major sporting…
Language
The power (and the usefulness) of language is that it gives us names for ideas. And a name is like…
Aussie life
At the end of the second world war, socialists around the world still believed in the inevitable overthrow of capitalism…
Language
We all know J.R.R. Tolkien from his epic The Lord of the Rings, voted best novel of the 20th century.…
Aussie life
‘Senior moment’, being an affectionate descriptor for the kind of harmless temporary memory failure which presages more serious cognitive decline,…
Language
The Albanese government has established a ‘Makarrata Commission’ with a budget of $5.8 million dollars. So, what is this word…
Aussie life
The tide seems to be turning. It is looking increasingly likely that what is the daftest referendum ever dreamt up…
Language
‘They’ is not a singular pronoun. It’s a fairly simple concept, but some people are struggling to grasp it. The…
Aussie life
Wellbeing is complicated. Like junk food and cigarettes, we need professionals to explain it to us, maybe with an expensive…
Language
The compound noun ‘rage apply’ is (I am told) the name being given to a new trend in workplaces around…
Aussie life
Standing on the banks of the Swan River the skyline tells you how Perth retains observable links with its regional…
Language
Some trendy new expressions will probably have the lifespan of a fruit fly (for the scientifically minded, that’s between 30…
Aussie life
If British women’s rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen goes ahead with the defamation suit she is reportedly considering taking out against…
Language
Is the word ‘bonzer’ no longer part of the living Australian language? Bernard Salt thinks not, writing in the Weekend…
Aussie life
It used to be joked that Australia risked becoming the fifty-first state of America. But having enjoyed a family holiday…
Language
We all know what ‘dictation’ means – speaking words aloud for someone to write down. Once every office had its…
