Aussie Life

Aussie life

15 March 2025 9:00 am

When Kermit the Frog told us in 1971 that it’s not easy being green it was meant as a plea…

Language

15 March 2025 9:00 am

Speccie reader Joseph has written to ask: What is ‘identity politics’? First, the history. The term ‘identity politics’ is recorded…

Aussie life

8 March 2025 9:00 am

Following the BLM protests in the US, which were seized on by the Aussie media and in schools, Disney declared…

Language

8 March 2025 9:00 am

A Speccie reader, Lillian, has sent me this information about a brand-new word – governmentium. ‘Scientific research has led to…

Aussie life

1 March 2025 9:00 am

Older Speccie readers would have smiled at the vinyl revival. And some would have laughed out loud at the reappearance…

Language

1 March 2025 9:00 am

When the Seven News Network asked me to explain the story behind the Aussie expression ‘no worries’ I did some…

Aussie life

22 February 2025 9:00 am

If you’ve ever suspected that left-wing crusaders are whingers with a chip on their shoulder and a negative outlook on…

Language

22 February 2025 9:00 am

‘Palindrome’ has been part of the English language since 1636 and means (as you know) a word or phrase that…

Aussie life

15 February 2025 9:00 am

In the UK, where I have just spent a few weeks, Christmas officially starts when you can’t enter a supermarket…

Language

15 February 2025 9:00 am

As Joe Biden rushed (sorry, stumbled) out of the doors of the White House, he flung around things called ‘pre-emptive…

Aussie life

8 February 2025 9:00 am

Harpy. Shrew. Harridan. Virago. Vixen. Hellcat. Scold. Fishwife. Fury. The English language has no shortage of words for belligerent and…

Language

8 February 2025 9:00 am

We are still at the beginning of 2025, but Brendan O’Neill has already named his ‘most irritating phrase of the…

Aussie life

1 February 2025 9:00 am

Like many public-facing organisations trying to have their zeitgeist and eat it, the Australia Institute is getting down with ‘youff’. They’ve…

Language

1 February 2025 9:00 am

I’ve been intrigued recently by the verb ‘to unsee’. It turns up as a trendy way of saying that something…

Aussie life

25 January 2025 9:00 am

The public shaming of elite pole vault coach Alex Parnov reminds me of the time I was sent to cover…

Language

25 January 2025 9:00 am

We missed it! Back on January 18 we should have been celebrating National Thesaurus Day. Mind you, the day is…

Aussie life

18 January 2025 9:00 am

As if Hollywood’s elite didn’t have enough to be worried about, the Governor they elected, and whose homelessness laws and…

Language

18 January 2025 9:00 am

It is easy to miss the fact that a good deal of slang has a long-forgotten rhyming component (and is…

Aussie life

11 January 2025 9:00 am

It’s hardly surprising that Doris Day’s jaunty homage to Marcus Aurelius ‘Que sera, sera’ was one of the 1956’s best-selling…

Language

11 January 2025 9:00 am

At the start of each year, Lake Superior State University publishes a list of ‘Banished Words.’ These are the words…

Aussie life

4 January 2025 9:00 am

Like many Speccie readers I was shocked by the public expressions of anti-Semitism which blighted the closing months of 2024.…

Language

4 January 2025 9:00 am

The verb ‘to unsee’ turns up as a snappy, or trendy, way of saying that something is unforgettable—in a bad…

Aussie life

14 December 2024 9:00 am

It is customary for magazines like this to devote some of the final issue of the year to an appraisal…

Language

14 December 2024 9:00 am

The clever lexicographers at the Australian National Dictionary Centre have chosen ‘Colesworths’ as their Word of the Year 2024. They…

Aussie life

7 December 2024 9:00 am

The University of Sydney’s Environment Institute (SEI) was launched in 2014 by Professor David Schlosberg ahead of a lecture discussing…