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…
Aussie Language
The hot political word of the moment has to be faction. In Victoria the anti-corruption body, IBAC, is currently investigating…
Aussie Language
It’s that time of the year again—when dictionaries around the world start announcing their chosen ‘Word of the Year’. First…
Aussie Language
The short-priced favourite that ran second in this year’s Melbourne Cup was a horse called ‘incentivise’. But is that a…
Aussie Language
When New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet announced the re-opening of the state he said: ‘We can’t remain a hermit…
Aussie Language
Andrew Bolt, among others, has been scrupulous in drawing our attention to what he calls ‘race baiting’. For example, Greens…
Aussie Language
A Speccie reader has emailed asking me for an explanation of the word ‘climatarian’. We know what Presbyterians are, she…
Aussie Language
A new study by researchers at the University of Western Australia shows that the most trusted accent in Australia is…
Kiwi Language
A tech company claims that anti-vax and anti-lockdown rallies have been ‘astroturfed’. Which means? Well, ‘AstroTurf’ was the world’s first…
Aussie Language
Just published is Testosterone: The Story of the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us by Harvard biologist Carole Hooven. She…
Aussie Language
When Extinction Rebellion vandalised Parliament House they were engaging in ‘stuntism’— a word that was coined by Mark Latham. When…
Aussie Language
The New York Times has chosen a word to describe what happens to people under Covid restrictions: ‘languishing’. Under lockdown…
Aussie Language
You’ve often come across the charge that ABC news and current affairs programs are being made by ‘activists’ rather than…
Aussie Language
TV host Paul Murray spoke on Sky News Australia about the role the word ‘misinformation’ is currently playing in the…
Aussie Language
‘LGAs’. Since when did this ugly piece of bureaucratic jargon become part of everyday English? Because the bureaucrats keep rattling…
Aussie Language
In December the various dictionaries will announce their choice for the Word of the Year title. For a while I…
Aussie Language
When Kaylee McKeown won Olympic gold her comment on worldwide television became the headline. Her sister and mum were watching…
Aussie Language
Edward de Bono—the inventor of ‘lateral thinking’—died recently. I interviewed him a number of times on my radio show (he…
Aussie Language
Talking to Peta Credlin on Sky News I coined a new expression, ‘language communists’. I used to call the bullies…
Aussie Language
‘Gain of function’ is a chilling new expression—well, new to most of us—that has entered our language as a result…
